Lawsuits against General Motors over economic damages allegedly caused by a recent recall for faulty ignition switches will be heard in Manhattan, a federal judicial panel has ruled.
The cases will be sent to US District Judge Jesse Furman in the Southern District of New York, Reuters reported, citing the ruling from the US Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation which considers requests to consolidate related lawsuits in US federal courts.
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Over 80 lawsuits have been filed by customers claiming their cars lost value as a result of the recall, which began in February. GM had asked that the cases be consolidated and transferred to New York, the same district where it filed for and emerged from bankruptcy in 2009.
Toyota faced similar claims several years ago after its ‘unintended acceleration’ recalls related to incorrectly installed floor mats and ‘sticky’ accelerator pedal mechanisms.
Reuters said GM has asked federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan to decide if claims brought by plaintiffs over the recall are blocked by the terms of its bankruptcy sale order, which created ‘new GM’ and largely barred liability against the new company for the pre-bankruptcy conduct of ‘old GM’.
The order does not affect lawsuits over personal injuries or deaths allegedly caused by the vehicles.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers suing the company had also asked that the cases be consolidated but disagreed on where. The forums they suggested were Los Angeles – where litigation against Toyota over the acceleration issues was transferred – as well as Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco and Texas.
The panel reportedly said in its order the Manhattan district was the most appropriate choice because it was the same district as GM’s bankruptcy, as well as the bankruptcy of Delphi Automotive, the GM supplier that made the ignition switch. Delphi has been named as a defendant in some of the cases, Reuters noted.
An attorney for some of the plaintiffs, Steve Berman, told Reuters in an e-mail that he was “happy to be (in New York), as we hear this judge is terrific”.
