Dodge Dart Clutch Defect Class Action Lawsuit Moves Forward

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Plaintiffs in a Dodge Dart clutch defect class action lawsuit were given more time by a California federal judge to amend their complaint.

Lead plaintiffs allege in their class action lawsuit that a defective clutch in manual transmission Dodge Darts causes the vehicles to stall, fail to accelerate and causes premature failure of the transmission. Fiat Chrysler moved for dismissal, but the plaintiffs argue the existence of a new defect.

In the order rejecting Fiat Chrysler’s motion to dismiss, U.S. District Judge Gonzalo P. Curiel allowed the plaintiffs five days to amend their complaint to include more information about the new defect. Fiat Chrysler argued that the plaintiffs shouldn’t be allowed to bring up new arguments at this point in the litigation, but Judge Curiel disagreed.

“When a plaintiff raises a new theory at the summary judgment and where a defendant will be prejudiced, the Ninth Circuit has held that plaintiff cannot raise a new theory for the first time in opposition to summary judgment,” noted the judge. “The Ninth Circuit has also held that ‘when issues are raised in opposition to a motion to summary judgment that are outside the scope of the complaint, the district court should construe the matter raised as a request pursuant to rule 15(b) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to amend the pleadings out of time.’”

Judge Curiel also pointed out that Fiat Chrysler and the plaintiffs differed as to what the alleged defect is. Fiat Chrysler argued that the alleged defect is limited to the clutch master cylinder; however, the plaintiffs argued that the entire hydraulic clutch system is defective. According to the order, the plaintiffs’ argument that the defect includes the entire hydraulic clutch system is too broad and Fiat Chrysler’s argument selectively cited information.

The plaintiffs argued in response to Fiat Chrysler’s motion to dismiss that there are two specific defects in the clutch system; the failure of the extended warranty to provide a complete fix for contamination caused by the defective clutch, and a defect in the slave cylinder stemming from the use of a plastic base clipped to an aluminum cylinder.

Judge Curiel found that the class action complaint actually claims that a defect in the master cylinder caused by contamination damages the slave cylinder and other parts of the clutch; however, the judge also found that including the new alleged defects in the class action would not harm Fiat Chrysler and therefore allowed the plaintiffs to amend their complaint to include the new allegations.

Noting that discovery is still open in the class action, “the Court concludes that Defendant will not suffer any prejudice by granting Plaintiffs leave to amend to add the facts to support a defect concerning the clutch slave cylinder,” the order states.

The plaintiffs are represented by Jordan L. Lurie, Robert Friedl, Tarek H. Zohdy, Cody R. Padgett and Karen L. Wallace of Capstone Law APC.

The Dodge Manual Transmission Class Action Lawsuit is Carlos Victorino & Adam Tavitian v. FCA US LLC, Case No. 3:16-cv-01617, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On Feb. 27, 2018, a federal judge determined that the plaintiffs sufficiently showed that there is reason to suspect the Dodge Dart’s clutch is defective. The case will move forward, with some revisions to the drivers’ claims about the nature of the alleged defect.

UPDATE 2: On June 1, 2018, a class action lawsuit alleging that Dodge Dart vehicles contain an unresolved manual transmission clutch defect may not be certified because the proposed Class is not specific enough and the plaintiffs have not properly analyzed the damages, according to a California federal judge.