The General Motors (GM) airbag lawsuit will not proceed as a nationwide class action after the judge’s ruling
In the US, a federal judge found the plaintiffs’ lacked standing’, according to carcomplaints.com but many state-based claims will proceed.
The GM airbag lawsuit alleges several GM vehicles equipped with faulty Takata airbags contained the explosive chemical ammonium nitrate. This chemical is used so that the airbag can deploy. Still, issues with the chemical and the metal airbag inflators have caused millions of vehicles manufactured by many automakers to be recalled.
Plaintiffs in the lawsuit say that GM should have known about the defective Takata inflator before installing the airbags in the vehicles and accuse the GM of concealing the defects and failing to inform owners of the dangers the airbag posed.
The plaintiffs say they wouldn’t have bought the vehicles if GM told them about the defects before their purchases. Therefore, the lawsuit alleges owners may not have paid what they did for the cars if GM admitted the cars were faulty.
GM says the lawsuit is without merit. The judge previously dismissed a claim that General Motors violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.
According to the judge, despite asserting a nationwide Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act claim, the plaintiffs assert a breach of implied warranty claims under the laws of 13 states.
This caused the judge to dismiss the nationwide claim because the plaintiffs lack standing to represent GM owners of states for which there is no breach of implied warranty claims.
In addition to dismissing the nationwide class action claim, the judge dismissed the following claims:
- Statewide breach of implied warranty claims under the laws of Indiana and Kentucky.
- Statewide consumer protection claims under the laws of Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Vermont.
- Fraud claims governed under the laws of Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Vermont.
- Negligence claims under the laws of Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Vermont.
- Unjust enrichment claims governed under the laws of Florida, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Vermont.
However, GM failed to convince the judge to dismiss the following claims:
- Certain statewide consumer protection and breach of implied warranty claims.
- Claims for fraud governed under the laws of Alabama, California, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
- Claims for negligence governed under the laws of Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
- Claims for unjust enrichment governed under the laws of Alabama, California, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
The GM airbag lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division: In Re: Takata Airbag Products Liability Litigation / Whitaker, et al., v. General Motors LLC, et al.
Source: www.carcomplaints.com