Dollar General Customers Seek Cert. in Motor Oil Class Action Lawsuit

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Consumers in a Dollar General class action lawsuit regarding motor oil recently asked a federal court to certify them as a Class since many of their claims are identical.

The plaintiffs in the Dollar General class action lawsuit say that despite the fact that the store brand’s motor oil was marketed next to more well-known brands, the store’s version was useless in vehicles.

The Dollar General motor oil class action lawsuit claims that Dollar General is responsible for widespread deception for those consumers who purchased the product and made the reasonable assumption that it would work.

The plaintiffs are asking for certification of a nationwide Class for a claim of breach of implied warranty and unjust enrichment. If they cannot get nationwide certification of their Class, they are looking for state subclasses to pursue those specific claims.

According to the consumers who came together to file the Dollar General class action lawsuit, the allegations made all center upon whether or not Dollar General marketed a product that the company knew was completely ineffective. The plaintiffs argue that the same thread and claims can be found in all the allegations.

While sharing space on the shelf with brand name motor oils, the Dollar General brand was less expensive. The consumers in the Dollar General class action claim that the company sold ineffective motor oil products to millions of consumers who had no idea about the problems.

Around the country, multiple class action lawsuits emerged from consumers angry about the ineffectiveness of the motor oil. Those were later combined into multidistrict litigation to manage the discovery and other processes for the Dollar General class action lawsuit.

The claims in the Dollar General class action lawsuit accuse the company of selling oils that were older and had the potential to harm engines.

These motor oils, according to the consumers, were placed next to more expensive and more broadly-known brands. The consumers say that the number of people who experienced nearly identical issues with a “motor oil” they allege is obsolete is indicative of the importance of Class certification.

Consumers first began bringing forward these allegations in 2015. Those plaintiffs claim that although Dollar General placed warnings on the labels of the products explaining that the item wasn’t intended or appropriate for use with newer vehicles that consumers might not have seen those warnings when grabbing the bottle off the shelf next to other, similar products.

In a previous ruling, consumers were successful in illustrating that Dollar General’s marketing of the motor oil was deceptive. U.S. District Court Judge Gary A. Fenner allowed the case to move forward in federal court in Missouri last year.

The consumers are represented by Allan Kanner of Kanner & Whiteley LLC and Kenneth B. McClain of Humphrey Farrington & McClain PC.

The Dollar General Defective Motor Oil Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Dollar General Corp. Motor Oil Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, Case No. 4:16-md-02709, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

UPDATE: On March 21, 2019, a federal judge approved Class certification for consumers in 16 states involved in a lawsuit alleging that Dollar General sold motor oil that was useless in modern cars.