Fiat Chrysler Seeks Dismissal of EcoDiesel Emissions Cheating Claims

Fiat Chrysler is seeking dismissal of consumer claims that the company ran an emissions-cheating scam similar to Volkswagen’s.

Defendants Fiat Chrysler and related defendants are accused of designing and marketing diesel engines that produce significantly more diesel emissions that their “eco-friendly” promotional representations would lead consumers to believe. The claims, brought by multiple plaintiffs in several different lawsuits, have been consolidated into a single multidistrict litigation being heard in a federal court in California.

In moving for dismissal, Fiat Chrysler distinguishes the current claims against it from similar claims raised against Volkswagen after that company was caught cheating emissions tests in a widely-publicized scandal.

Unlike the Volkswagen plaintiffs, Fiat Chrysler says the purchasers of vehicles equipped with Chrysler EcoDiesel engines don’t allege that their vehicles suffered a diminution in value attributable to the alleged cheating. Without a loss in value, the company argues, the plaintiffs can’t show they have been injured and therefore don’t have standing to sue.

Neither do the plaintiffs allege an inability to sell their vehicles, a drop in vehicle performance, or a threat to safety, Fiat Chrysler claims. The company says the plaintiffs’ claims boil down to an effort to enforce EPA regulations against Fiat Chrysler, regulations that only the EPA itself has authority to enforce.

Fiat Chrysler also challenges claims raised under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, arguing that these claims fail because the plaintiffs can’t claim an actual “concrete financial loss.” The company also argues that the plaintiffs’ state law claims are preempted by the federal Clean Air Act.

Problems began for Fiat Chrysler after the EPA and California Air Resources Board announced the company failed to disclose the presence of auxiliary emission control devices, or AECDs, in some of the company’s EcoDiesel engines. These AECDs disable parts of the emission control system, allowing the engine to produce an excess of nitrogen oxides.

A press release from plaintiff law firm Hagens Berman alleges Fiat Chrysler and related defendants “knowingly concealed the use of an emissions-cheating defeat device and illegally high emissions levels up to 10 times the legal limit in EcoDiesel vehicles, and sold them under false pretenses.”

In one of the many lawsuits consolidated against Fiat Chrysler, plaintiff Jose Chavez claims the company’s EcoDiesel are nothing that any reasonable purchaser would consider to be environmentally friendly. He claims the engines “belch out harmful pollutants far in excess of both U.S. and State of California emissions standards.”

Chavez alleges Fiat Chrysler and co-defendant Bosch LLC illegally conspired to deceive regulatory authorities and vehicle purchasers into believing that their EcoDiesel engines produced fewer pollutants than other engines.

The plaintiffs are represented by lead counsel and chair of the steering committee Elizabeth J. Cabraser of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP, and steering committee members Roland K. Tellis of Baron & Budd PC, W. Daniel Miles III of Beasley Allen Crow Methvin Portis & Miles PC, Lesley E. Weaver of Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP, David S. Casey Jr. of Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP, Steve W. Berman of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Lynn Lincoln Sarko of Keller Rohrback LLP, Joseph F. Rice of Motley Rice LLC, Rachel L. Jensen of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP, and Stacey P. Slaughter of Robins Kaplan LLP

The Fiat Chrysler EcoDiesel Multidistrict Litigation is In re: Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep EcoDiesel Marketing, Sales Practices, and Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 3:17-md-02777-EMC, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On March 15, 2018, a mulitdistrict litigation alleging Fiat Chrysler and Bosch conspired to defraud consumers and environmental regulators regarding their emissions cheating EcoDiesel engines will move forward after a federal judge refused to dismiss certain allegations in the case.

UPDATE 2: April 13, 2018: Fiat Chrysler enters settlement talks with the U.S. Justice Department to resolve emissions cheating class action lawsuit.

UPDATE 3: On Aug. 29, 2018, plaintiffs in a Fiat Chrysler emissions class action argued that they are direct victims of the alleged emissions cheating scheme, qualifying them for RICO claims.

UPDATE 4: 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.

UPDATE 5: On Jan. 10, 2019, Fiat Chrysler will pay up to a total of $884 million to end allegations that the company installed software in some of its diesel vehicles that enabled the vehicles to perform at legal emissions standards during testing and then produce much more pollution than is legally allowed when the vehicles are driven normally.

UPDATE 6: On Jan. 23, 2019, a federal judge recently revealed that he’s “very much inclined” to grant preliminary approval to a $307 million Fiat Chrysler emissions settlement.

UPDATE 7: March 2019, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Ram 1500 EcoDiesel class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.