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Plaintiffs who filed a class action lawsuit alleging certain Mazda 3 vehicles contain a defect that causes premature clutch failure have asked a California federal judge not to dismiss their case, arguing that their claims are not “too varied” to justify class action certification.
The plaintiffs, who include Iris Gonzales and a group of a dozen others, rejected arguments by Mazda Motor Corp. and Mazda Motor of America that individual inquiries were necessary to determine the factors that allegedly caused each of their Mazda 3 vehicles’ clutches to fail.
They claim that Mazda “claims ignorance” regarding the manner in which the clutch assemblies interact to cause the premature clutch failure in order to convince the judge that the Class should not be certified.
“Indeed, this action will not require ‘individualized inquiries,’ … Mazda’s claims to the contrary notwithstanding,” the plaintiffs argue. “Mazda categorically denies the Defect’s existence and asserts that clutch failure is the result of driver error.”
“Driver error, however, cannot and will not explain why thousands of drivers experience multiple clutch assembly failures in quick succession, … and at extremely low mileage,” the plaintiffs continue. “The timing of when Mazda learned of the Defect and how many consumers it affected will predominate over any claimed ‘individualized’ issues.”
Mazda’s attempt to dismiss the clutch defect class action lawsuit should fail for a number of reasons, the plaintiffs argue. First, the motor company’s attempts to dismiss non-California plaintiffs’ claims under the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act and Unfair Competition Law are premature and should be addressed only after the plaintiffs file their motion for class action certification.
Second, because the plaintiffs premise their claims on Mazda’s refusal to disclose the alleged clutch defect and their allegedly active concealment of the issue, they claim that they don’t need to respond to Mazda’s arguments that challenge misrepresentation claims made under other states’ consumer protection laws.
The plaintiffs also argue that they have plausibly and timely brought claims under a variety of state laws and therefore should not be dismissed at this stage in litigation. Therefore, they have urged the judge to deny Mazda’s motion to dismiss the clutch defect class action lawsuit.
According to the Mazda 3 class action lawsuit, the alleged clutch defect is related to the way the clutch release assembly components interact with each other. The defect allegedly results from imperfect contact, leading to “slippage,” between the clutch disc and the flywheel within the clutch release assembly.
The court documents indicate that a hearing on Mazda’s motion to dismiss the clutch defect class action lawsuit will be held on Dec. 2, 2016.
The plaintiffs are represented by Richard M. McCune, David C. Wright, Joseph G. Sauder, and Matthew D. Schelkopf of McCuneWrightLLP and Bryan Clobes and Daniel Herrera of Cafferty Clobes Meriwether & Sprengel LLP.
The Mazda Clutch Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Iris Gonzalez, et al. v. Mazda Motor Corporation, et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-02087-MMC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
UPDATE: On Jan. 5, 2017, a California federal judge trimmed the class action lawsuit alleging certain Mazda automobiles have defective clutches.
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UPDATE: On Jan. 5, 2017, a California federal judge trimmed the class action lawsuit alleging certain Mazda automobiles have defective clutches.