FCA Class Action Says Diesel Vehicles Equipped With Emissions Cheating Devices

Just one day after the Environmental Protection Agency accused Fiat Chrysler of installing emissions cheating software in more than 100,000 diesel vehicles, an Alabama man filed a proposed class action lawsuit in federal court.

Plaintiff R.D. Warren claims that not only did FCA mislead regulators, but consumers as well. His lawsuit follows the EPA’s notice of violation that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV and FCA US LLC reportedly failed to disclose emissions cheating software in its diesel models.

Warren says he purchased a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Diesel relying on FCA’s “EcoDiesel” campaign that touted their diesel models as being fuel efficient and good for the environment. Contrary to FCA’s promotion, its diesel vehicles are unhealthy and unlawful, Warren states.

“Although defendants successfully marketed these expensive cars as ‘clean,’ their environmentally-friendly representations were a sham,” Warren says. “Defendants did not actually make cars with those desirable and advertised attributes.”

The plaintiff further asserts that he would not have paid a premium for his Jeep Grand Cherokee if he had known about the true nature of its fuel efficiency and emissions.

Fiat Chrysler is the second major automaker to face allegations of installing emissions cheating devices in its diesel vehicles to evade federal regulations.

While the EPA has yet to officially call FCA’s software a “defeat device,” it did indicate that the software could mirror that of Volkswagen’s emissions cheating scandal.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it is indicting six present and former Volkswagen executives and charging the company with three criminal felony counts for what regulators called a “10-year conspiracy” to manipulate hundreds of thousands of diesel vehicles in cheating U.S. emission standards.

Volkswagen is also being forced to pay $2.8 billion in criminal fines and $1.5 billion in civil penalties related to the emissions cheating scandal.

That’s on top of a $14.7 billion settlement the company reached earlier this year with the EPA that demands Volkswagen spend $10 billion to either buy back or repair about 475,000 2-liter diesel cars sold between 2009 and 2015; the company also must contribute $4.7 billion to federal efforts to reduce pollution.

In addition to the EPA’s notice, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Fiat Chrysler over its alleged failure to disclose the alleged emissions cheating software.

Warren seeks to represent an Alabama Class and a nationwide Class of individuals and businesses who currently own or previously owned or leased an FCA diesel vehicle equipped with an emission cheating device.

The affected vehicles, according to court documents, include Model Year 2014-2016 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Ram 1500 or any other car that is powered by FCA’s 3.0 liter EcoDiesel engine.

Warren is represented by W. Lewis Garrison Jr., Christopher Hood, Taylor C. Bartlett, James F. McDonough III and Travis E. Lynch of Heninger Garrison Davis LLC and K. Stephen Jackson of Jackson & Tucker PC.

The FCA Diesel Emissions Cheating Class Action Lawsuit is R.D. Warren, et al. v. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V., et al., Case No. 7:17-cv-00059, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama.

UPDATE: On Oct. 17, 2018, Fiat Chrysler asked a federal judge to reject consumers’ bid for Class certification in an EcoDiesel multidistrict litigation, because the company says the consumers’ expert is unreliable.