Brake Caliper Locked & Clutch Slipping

I have a 2007 Civic SI that has recently been having a scratching noise from the front of the car, and the clutch is suddenly slipping badly (6 spd manual trans). I have an extended warranty on the car that was purchased from Honda when we bought the car new.

Expecting that this was likely brakes and considered "wear and tear", I took it to a local shop to repair, since they estimated $ much cheaper than Honday.

They determined that the right front caliper had locked (basically, brake on all the time), and it had worn down to metal-to-metal. They checked the left front and it still has 40% left on it's pads. The brakes have NOT been worked on at all since we bought the car. They also determined that the clutch is pretty shot and will need to be replaced as well.


It makes sense to me that a locked caliper should be covered under the warranty, since it shouldn't be "wear and tear" -- so I took it to Honda for review and repair. I haven't heard from them yet.

My question is this -- the clutch wasn't slipping at all two months ago -- now it's significant. If I drive 'normally", it accelerates from a stop just fine. If I am driving in 3rd gear, for example, at 30 mph and I push significantly on the gas, the RPM go up quickly, but the car hardly accelerates -- obviously an issue with the clutch.

Since we didn't seem to have any issues with the clutch until the last couple of weeks, is it not likely (at least some degree of) cause and effect - if the brake is locked (i.E. On all the time), would that not cause significant stress on the clutch, thus causing rapid wear? I.E at the same time it's wearing down the brake pads to a metal-to-metal status, wouldn't it be causing the same issue with the clutch (although possibly to a lesser degree)?

We don't drive the car crazy, race, etc. I've never heard of a clutch going out at only 40k miles unless put under significant stress.

Thoughts? Do I have a leg to stand on related to the warranty and the clutch?