Fiat Chrysler Tries To Trim Faulty Gear Shift Class Action Lawsuit

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Fiat Chrysler Automobiles asked a Michigan federal judge last week to eliminate some claims from a class action lawsuit filed by drivers who say that Jeep Grand Cherokees and other vehicles have faulty gear shifts.

Fiat Chrysler is attempting to have economic loss claims tossed from named plaintiff Sarah Lalli.

According to Fiat Chrysler, some of the plaintiff’s claims of economic loss are time barred, and some of them don’t adhere to legal standards.

The company says that the driver shouldn’t be allowed to bring certain economic loss claims forward because they failed to give the company proper notice of the problem.

Lalli says she purchased a new Jeep Grand Cherokee in December 2014. Allegedly, the vehicle rolled away when parked because the gear shift improperly moved out of position. She says that this happened twice, and as a result, she doesn’t feel safe driving the vehicle.

Fighting back, Fiat Chrysler noted that Lalli still owns the vehicle. The company also says that Lalli filed her gear shift class action lawsuit too late.

According to Lalli, she discovered the alleged defect in the gear shift at the latest on April 22, 2016, and filed her claim under the Florida Unfair & Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

However, Fiat Chrysler says that she waited too long, because she waited more than four years after she purchased the vehicle to file her claims.

Fiat Chrysler claims that nothing stopped her from filing earlier. According to the company, Lalli “alleges that under ‘discovery rule tolling,’ her FUDTPA claim (and all other claims) did not accrue for statute of limitations purposes until she could have discovered the alleged defect with reasonable diligence. This fails because Florida’s ‘discovery rule’ simply does not apply to FUDTPA claims.”

Fiat Chrysler says that she did not tell Fiat Chrysler that she believed her vehicle was defective, though she says her car rolled away because of the defect during the warranty period.

However, Lalli says that Fiat Chrysler did not warn her of the defect before their recall of the allegedly affected vehicles on April 22, 2016. Lalli claimed that Fiat Chrysler fraudulently concealed the defect — she argues that the company knew or should have known of the defect before they notified drivers and announced a recall.

This isn’t the first legal pushback the auto company has experienced over the alleged gear shift problems. Fiat Chrysler tried to have the gear shift multidistrict litigation dismissed in 2017.

Proposed Classes of Fiat Chrysler drivers exist in a number of states, and the claims in each states vary based on state law. 

The drivers are represented by E. Powell Miller and Sharon S. Almonrode of The Miller Law Firm PC; Joseph H. Meltzer, Peter A. Muhic and Tyler S. Graden of Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check LLP; Steve W. Berman, Sean R. Matt and Christopher R. Pitoun of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP; Daniel E. Gustafson, Jason S. Kilene, David A. Goodwin and Raina C. Borrelli of Gustafson Gluek PLLC; Robert K. Shelquist and Rebecca A. Peterson of Lockridge Grindal Nauen PLLP; Gregory F. Coleman, Lisa A. White, Mark E. Silvey and Adam E. Edwards of Greg Coleman Law PC; and David Honigman, Douglas Toering and Gerard V. Mantese of Mantese Honigman PC.

The Fiat Chrysler Gearshift Class Action Lawsuit is In re: FCA US LLC Monostable Electronic Gearshift Litigation, 2:16-md-02744, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

UPDATE: On Dec. 9, 2019, drivers who claimed that they paid too much for Fiat Chrysler vehicles with defective gearshifts will receive partial Class certification in their gearshift multidistrict litigation.