VW Owners Opting Out of Emissions Settlement Can’t Sue Yet

Last week, a California judge denied a request to lift a stay for 18 Volkswagen owners who have indicated they will opt out of the $14.7 billion Volkswagen emissions scandal settlement, finding that they will need to wait until the settlement’s final fairness hearing before the stay can be lifted.

An attorney for the plaintiffs argued to San Francisco Superior Court Judge Mary E. Wiss that his VW emissions lawsuit is a simple one, but it is being made overly complicated by the emissions scandal multidistrict litigation (MDL).

The attorney states that he has access to millions of pages of documents, but he hasn’t been able to obtain any guidance from the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the emissions scandal MDL.

Judge Wiss denied the attorney’s request for limited discovery of only 25 documents, finding that many of the attorney’s clients had entered arbitration agreements with their Volkswagen dealerships and she was unclear about whether those agreements allow for discovery.

There are reportedly an additional 1,500 Volkswagen emissions scandal lawsuits that are currently pending outside of the massive VW emissions scandal MDL, and the automaker’s attorneys argue that they would be bombarded with discovery requests if these cases were currently allowed to proceed.

The proposed VW emissions settlement provides more than $10 million to buy back cars from consumers and provide them with compensation. In addition, VW will provide $2.7 billion for environmental remediation and $2 billion to promote zero emissions vehicle technology.

The VW emissions settlement was preliminarily approved last month. It resolves a number of lawsuits that were consolidated for settlement purposes.

In addition to settling claims with owners and lessees of the affected vehicles, Volkswagen has also reached emissions scandal settlements with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.

The final fairness hearing has been scheduled for Oct. 18, 2016.

The vehicles included in the VW emissions settlement include 2013-2015 VW Beetle; 2013-2015 VW Beetle Convertible; 2010-2015 VW Golf; 2015 VW Golf SportWagen; 2009-2015 VW Jetta; 2009-2014 VW Jetta SportWagen; 2012-2015 VW Passat; and 2010-2013 and 2015 Audi A3.

The claims filing period for the VW emissions settlement is still open. The claim filing deadline for current owners and lessees is Sept. 1, 2016. Former owners and lessees and sellers of eligible vehicles have until Sept. 16, 2016 to file a claim.

Detailed information about how to file a claim for the settlement is available here.

The plaintiffs are represented by Michael Louis Kelly of Kirtland & Packard LLP. The dismissed plaintiffs are represented by Michael L. McGrane of McGrane PC, Matthew J. Shier and Linda Sorensen of Shierkatz RLLP, and Jonathan Bass of Coblentz Patch Duffy & Bass LLP.

The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal Class Action Lawsuit is Volkswagen Automobile Emissions Cases, Case No. CJC-16-004848, in the Superior Court of California for the County of San Francisco.

The VW Emissions Scandal MDL is In re: Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Marketing, Sales Practices and Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 3:15-md-02672, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.