— General Motors has told a Florida judge a Ultium PowerUP electric vehicle charger class action lawsuit shouldn't be in court because the allegations belong in arbitration.
The Florida GM charger class action lawsuit was filed by Rick and Kerry Kriseman after they had problems with their GM Ultium PowerUP electric vehicle charger in August 2024.
The Florida lawsuit alleges 2022-2024 GM Ultium chargers cannot do the job advertised by GM to charge electric vehicles.
According to the GM class action, the plaintiffs soon had problems with the Ultium internal circuit breaker that repeatedly tripped and stopped charging their vehicle. The lawsuit says the plaintiffs had to flip their circuit breaker to get the charger to begin working. They continued doing that process.
The plaintiffs complain they were not warned about the purported GM Ultium PowerUP defects even though General Motors supposedly knew the chargers were defective. And the plaintiffs also complain the safety aspect of charging their vehicle is gone due to an overheated charger.
GM Ultium Charger Lawsuit: Arbitration Denied
The plaintiffs and a Cadillac dealership entered a vehicle lease agreement that included an arbitration agreement. The plaintiffs also purchased a GM Ultium PowerUP Charger for their Cadillac.
General Motors argues the Ultium PowerUP charger lawsuit shouldn't be in court because the two plaintiffs allegedly agreed to argue their claims in front of an arbitrator, not a federal judge.
The plaintiffs supposedly consented to binding arbitration when they and the Cadillac dealer entered the lease agreement.
GM and the plaintiffs do not dispute Florida law applies in this case, and under state law an arbitration clause is enforceable where "a valid written arbitration agreement exists, an arbitrable issue is involved, and the right to arbitrate has not been waived."
However, the GM charger arbitration agreement was between the plaintiffs and the Cadillac dealer, not directly with General Motors, specifically “between you and us.” And the agreement relates to the plaintiffs' credit application, the vehicle, the lease or any resulting transaction.
Judge Mary S. Scriven ruled against GM and its motion to compel arbitration because she cannot find that GM is a "parent, affiliate, subsidiary, officer, employee, agent, successor, or assign" of the Cadillac dealership.
"No paper submitted to the Court establishes that Defendant falls in any such category. Accordingly, unless an exception applies, Defendant’s Motion is due to be denied on the basis there is no valid arbitration agreement between Defendant and Plaintiffs." — Judge Scriven
According to the judge, the lease agreement is clear and its arbitration provision applies only to disputes between the plaintiffs and the Cadillac dealer.
The GM Ultium charger class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida (Tampa Division): Kriseman, et al., v. General Motors, LLC.
The plaintiffs are represented by Morgan & Morgan.