— A General Motors transmission class action lawsuit has taken another turn in court, this time in the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The GM class action lawsuit involves 8L45 and 8L90 automatic transmissions in these vehicles.
- 2015-2019 Chevrolet Silverado
- 2017-2019 Chevrolet Colorado
- 2015-2019 Chevrolet Corvette
- 2016-2019 Chevrolet Camaro
- 2015-2017 Cadillac Escalade and Escalade ESV
- 2016-2019 Cadillac CTS
- 2016-2018 Cadillac CT6
- 2015-2019 GMC Sierra
- 2015-2017 GMC Yukon and Yukon XL
- 2017-2019 GMC Canyon
The lawsuit began nearly six years ago when vehicle owners filed a nationwide class action lawsuit alleging the transmissions slip, buck, kick, jerk, harshly engage and eventually fail.
As is typical in U.S. class lawsuits, one lawsuit will be filed for customers nationwide, but many more will follow just to eventually be consolidated into one class action.
In the case of GM transmissions, these class actions were filed only to be consolidated into one 900-page lawsuit.
- Francis v. General Motors
- Shelton v. General Motors
- Ray v. General Motors
- Duffy v. General Motors
- Gutierrez v. General Motors
There was also another 8L45 and 8L90 transmission class action, but it was sent to arbitration.
Vehicle owners assert the automaker should repair the vehicles even though the warranties expired. But then the plaintiffs also contend any repairs performed by dealerships will fail, leaving owners with defective vehicles.
According to the transmission class action, GM has long known the 8-speed 8L90 and 8L45 transmissions are defective.
After years in court, a U.S. district court judge granted class action certification, but only for customers in these 26 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin.
This convinced General Motors to appeal the class certification ruling.
GM Transmission Class Action Lawsuit Update (Appeal)
GM told the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals the class certification granted by the district court judge was nonsense because most affected vehicle owners never had any problems with their transmissions.
The appeals court was also told how vehicle owners described different problems with different models and different transmissions, so including all those owners in one class action should not be allowed.
However, the appeals court panel refused to make any changes to the district court's class action certification for the 26 states. The panel of judges found that even if customers didn't have any transmission problems, the lawsuit claims those customers paid too much for their vehicles.
That one simple allegation was enough to grant class action certification of the lawsuit.
This ruling caused General Motors to ask the appeals court to reconsider its ruling about the transmission class action. Specifically, GM asked the court to rehear the case, "en banc."
"En banc is French for "on the bench." The term refers to a special procedure where all judges of a particular court hear a case. When the court believes that the matters are especially complex or important, the en banc procedure will be used. The appellate court in the United States usually takes a panel to review a complex matter, and only rarely will the en banc procedure be applied." — Legal Information Institute
Most appellate court cases involve only a three-judge panel, while an en banc rehearing involves all the Sixth Circuit judges hearing the arguments all at once.
According to GM, the Sixth Circuit will be a "magnet for class-action lawsuits" if the entire appeals court doesn't rehear the appeal of class certification.
Although rare, a majority of Sixth Circuit judges agreed to rehear GM's appeal en banc, a decision that erases the previous appeals court ruling about class action lawsuit certification for the 26 states.
No date has been set for the en banc rehearing. CarComplaints.com will update our website when additional details are available.
The GM transmission class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (Detroit): Speerly, et al., v. General Motors LLC.
The plaintiffs are represented by The Miller Law Firm, P.C., Cohen Milstein Sellers Toll PLLC, Gordon & Partners, Kessler Topaz Meltzer Check LLP, Capstone Law APC, and Berger Montague PC.