GM Wins Appeal: Class Action Lawsuit Over Faulty Transmissions Decertified
General Motors has scored a legal victory as a federal appeals court decertified a class action lawsuit involving faulty transmissions in around 800,000 vehicles. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati voted 9-7 to overturn an earlier ruling that would have allowed the case to proceed as a single class action.
The class action, Speerly et al v. General Motors LLC, No. 23-1940, was brought by drivers who reported issues such as shuddering, hesitation, and lurching in their cars, even after repair attempts. The plaintiffs sought to hold GM liable for knowingly selling vehicles equipped with problematic 8L45 or 8L90 eight-speed automatic transmissions.
The appeals court, in a decision authored by Judge John Nalbandian, found too many differences among the vehicle owners to justify a single judge overseeing the litigation. Instead, the court sent the case back to U.S. District Judge David Lawson in Detroit for further review, which could lead to certification of smaller subclasses. The affected cars spanned various models from Chevrolet, GMC, and Cadillac, sold between 2015 and 2019.
The appeals court's decision reverses an earlier ruling by Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore, who dissented in the new decision. While the case is not dismissed entirely, the decertification of the class action makes it more challenging for the plaintiffs to pursue their claims collectively. The outcome of the further review by Judge Lawson remains uncertain.
