Christina Spicer  |  July 9, 2018

Category: Consumer News

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Class Members received partial certification in a lawsuit alleging certain car models made by Fiat Chrysler are vulnerable to hacking.

After media exposure led to the recall of more than 1 million Dodge, Ram, and Jeep vehicles, plaintiffs alleged in a 2015 Jeep hacking class action lawsuit that the 3G “Infotainment” center in those cars are especially prone to hacking.

The plaintiffs also claimed that Fiat Chrysler (FCA) knew of the problem, but failed to sufficiently notify owners and address the issue in time.

According to the FCA Jeep hacking class action lawsuit, hackers are able to exploit known security weaknesses in the infotainment system remotely and issue commands to the vehicles.

As the litigation proceeded in the FCA Jeep hacking class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs asked the court to certify their proposed Class.

FCA also submitted a motion in the class action, arguing for dismissal. FCA pointed out that the plaintiffs in the Jeep class action lawsuit failed to include any warranty claims of vehicles being hacked.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Michael J. Reagan agreed to partially certify the proposed Class; however, he also trimmed claims in the FCA Jeep hacking class action lawsuit.

The judge agreed to certify Class Members from the states of Illinois, Michigan, and Missouri. The proposed nationwide Class was too “unwieldy,” stated the judge in his order.

The FCA Jeep hacking class action lawsuit was trimmed of its fraud and unjust enrichment claims as well.

FCA will not be able to dodge other claims in the FCA Jeep hacking class action lawsuit, including claims of breach of warranty and claims for damages.

“Despite defendants’ characterization that the defect alleged by plaintiffs requires that they be hacked before bringing suit, plaintiffs provide evidence that suggests that the Uconnect integration in their vehicles is flawed such that the defect exists regardless of whether they, personally, have had their vehicles hacked,” noted the judge in his order.

Relatedly, the judge found that the FCA Jeep hacking class action lawsuit allegations that Class Members suffered damages were sufficient at this point in the litigation as well.

“Plaintiffs provide evidence that the design and installation of the Uconnect devices themselves, rather than the software operating the devices, is defective and that fixing the software may not have fixed the alleged defects,” noted the order in the FCA Jeep hacking class action lawsuit. “Accordingly, the court finds that genuine disputes of material fact exist such that summary judgment cannot be granted as to all counts at this time.”

The plaintiffs and Class Members are represented by Christopher D. Baucom, Lucas Pendry and IJay Palansky of Armstrong Teasdale LLP; Michael Gras and Christopher Cueto of the Law Office of Christopher Cueto Ltd.; and Stephen R. Wigginton of the Law Office of Stephen R. Wigginton.

The FCA Jeep Hacking Class Action Lawsuit is Flynn, et al. v. FCA US LLC, et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-00855, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: On Dec. 11, 2018, the defendants in a Fiat Chrysler class action lawsuit over claims that Jeep Cherokees are vulnerable to being hacked now argue that thousands of Jeep drivers should not have been certified as a Class.

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