An attorney representing several car owners suing General Motors LLC has told a New York federal judge that hundreds of GM ignition switch lawsuits were wrongly dismissed by the court last month from the GM recall MDL (multidistrict litigation) without legal basis, an alleged violation of plaintiffs’ rights of due process.

This GM recall lawsuit alleges the plaintiffs sustained economic loss because of the numerous GM ignition switch recalls that took place over the 2014 year.

The attorney representing 12 economic loss plaintiffs whose GM recall lawsuits were consolidated into the GM recall MDL has asked U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman to re-evaluate last month’s order to dismiss over 100 GM ignition switch recall lawsuits because these cases, including the 12 previously mentioned plaintiffs’ cases, were judged to be duplicative.

These cases were reportedly deemed duplicative because the lead counsel for the GM recall MDL submitted two consolidated complaints in federal court in order to streamline the ongoing litigation, which lead to Judge Furman’s order to dismiss all those plaintiffs who were not named in the consolidated complaint.

The GM recall lawsuit claims the lead counsel “submitted Consolidated Complaints joining only a small percentage of parties named in the economic loss lawsuits consolidated in this multidistrict litigation — predominantly leadership’s own clients — and, when GM objected to any reservation of claims, Lead Counsel agreed with GM that the claims of all those not named should simply be dismissed.”

Based on this, the 12 plaintiffs’ legal counsel has asked the court to reconsider the dismissal of his clients and the other GM lawsuits.

Additionally, the 12 GM recall lawsuits plaintiffs allege that because their claims were not included in the master consolidated document then their claims are not duplicative and that the consolidated MDL complaint cannot surpass their individual GM recall claims.

After the dismissal of these 100 GM recall lawsuits from the MDL, GM opposed the request to reconsider the dismissal, stating, “GM does not believe there is a basis for reconsideration of the court’s ruling, and we will respond to the motion in due course,” according to the GM recall lawsuit.

The majority of the GM recall lawsuits involved in the MDL, including those dismissed for being duplicative, allege several claims against GM including violations of several state consumer protection laws, unjust enrichment, fraud by concealment, among other claims for the millions of cars recalled because of the GM ignition switch defect.

The GM Recall Lawsuit is Case No.  1:14-cv-04798, which was part of the GM Recall MDL also known as In re: General Motors LLC Ignition Switch Litigation, MDL No. 1:14-mc-02543, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

GM Ignition Switch Recall

According to the thousands of GM ignition switch lawsuits and GM recall class action lawsuits, many GM vehicle owners and lessees claim they were severely or fatally injured by the allegedly defective ignition switch design found in numerous GM models.

Based on court documents, the ignition switch that is a standard component in many GM car models is prone to move from the “on” to “off” position while in drive. Once this occurs, the car becomes virtually impossible to maneuver on the road and various important safety features, like airbag deployment, become disabled.

Thus, the GM ignition switch defect allegedly leaves drivers and passengers vulnerable to impact trauma from a potential collision.

As a result, any individuals and family of individuals who were hurt or killed because of the ignition switch defect have filed GM ignition switch lawsuits or have joined GM ignition switch defect class action lawsuits.