GM defeats emissions fraud lawsuits

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Update: 

• A Michigan federal judge dismantled two class action lawsuits alleging General Motors (GM) misleadingly represented the emissions of its Chevy Cruze, Silverado and Sierra vehicles.
• On July 12, U.S. District Judge Thomas L. Ludington granted GM’s motions for summary judgment in cases relating to emissions for 2011-2016 Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD or 3500HD trucks and GMC Sierra 2500HD or 3500HD trucks fitted with the Duramax diesel engine.
• In his ruling, Judge Ludington says the drivers’ state law claims in both cases were preempted by the federal Clean Air Act and recent 6th Circuit precedent.
• In a similar case, the 6th Circuit ruling found state claims would be seen as a challenge to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) approval of an automaker’s emissions and fuel economy test data. 
• Judge Ludington added the plaintiffs’ claims would allow a jury to question the EPA’s fuel economy figures unless they claimed GM failed to follow the agency’s testing procedures or the obligation to report truthful information to the EPA.

(April 26, 2018)

A Chevy Cruze diesel emissions class action lawsuit should not be expanded to include federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) charges, according to General Motors.

GM says that the plaintiffs’ recent revelations that auto parts manufacturer, Robert Bosch LLC, may have also been involved in an alleged wide-spread emissions cheating scandal is an attempt to change the very nature of the case.

Expanding the GM diesel emissions class action lawsuit, argues the auto manufacturer, will needlessly delay the proceedings as well.

The Chevy Cruze diesel emissions class action lawsuit was initiated in 2016 over allegations that GM misleadingly represented the 2014 Chevy Cruze as “clean diesel.” The plaintiffs claim that they and other owners paid more for the car because they thought it was environmentally friendly and produced fewer emissions.

The GM class action lawsuit also alleges class members paid more for the diesel version of the Cruze than the gas; however, they discovered that an emissions defeating device skewed the results of tests in lab settings and the cars actually had higher emissions than advertised.

“Plaintiffs’ contention that Bosch’s role is just now coming ‘into focus’ is a fiction that neither excuses nor justifies their delay,” contends GM in its motion opposing the plaintiffs. “While plaintiffs cite a handful of GM-produced documents that they claim support their new allegations, the gravamen of their ‘new’ Bosch-related claims has been the subject of complaints filed a year or more ago by these same lawyers.”

GM argues that allowing the expanded claims will unfairly disadvantage them. They say they have poured time and resources into fighting the Chevy Cruze class action lawsuit as is and they will have to start over if the plaintiffs are allowed to add additional claims.

The plaintiffs also waited too long to add the claims, contends the auto-maker. GM points out that the additional claims were not added to the GM Chevy Cruze class action lawsuit until a decision favorable to the plaintiffs came down in a separate case. GM says this took more than one year and it would be unacceptable to allow the plaintiffs to add the claims now.

GM has been successful in trimming claims from the class action lawsuit. In 2017, the auto maker convinced a federal judge to dismiss breach of contract claims; however, other claims were allowed to proceed.

The plaintiffs contend it is appropriate for the additional claims over Bosch to be added to the GM emissions class action lawsuit. They say they have only recently had access to documents establishing that GM and Bosch had a relationship and were involved in the same allegedly illegal conduct.

The plaintiffs are represented by Steve W. Berman and Jessica Thompson of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, Jason J. Thompson and Lance C. Young of Sommers Schwartz PC, Christopher A. Seeger of Seeger Weiss LLP, Robert C. Hilliard of Hilliard Munoz Gonzales LLP and James E. Cecchi of Carella Byrne Cecchi Olstein Brody & Agnello PC.

The GM Chevy Cruze diesel emissions class action lawsuit is Jason Counts, et al. v. General Motors LLC, Case No. 1:16-cv-12541, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

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