— A federal judge has granted final approval to a General Motors "Shift to Park" class action lawsuit settlement, although GM denies all allegations of wrongdoing.
The class action was consolidated from two separate Shift to Park class action lawsuits, one filed in Ohio and the other in Tennessee.
Note the GM settlement involves those two states only, and even then, there are conditions that customers must meet.
The GM Shift to Park class action lawsuit was filed after the plaintiffs complained the transmission control (shifter) assemblies were the problem.
According to the plaintiffs, the vehicles can fail to detect when drivers shift into PARK and then a Shift to Park message appears. Once the message activates, a driver cannot shut off the vehicle and can't lock it.
In addition, the lawsuit says the battery can drain even though the GM driver has shifted the transmission into PARK.
Wiggling the gear shifter can sometimes fix the problem, but the Shift to Park class action alleges GM should have announced a recall long ago.
GM Shift to Park Class Action Lawsuit Settled
As mentioned above, the lawsuit settlement includes Ohio and Tennessee only. And a customer should pay close attention to the settlement terms.
Ohio Vehicles
The Shift to Park class action settlement includes original purchasers and lessees of new 2017-2019 GMC Acadia, 2019 Chevrolet Blazer, 2016-2019 Chevrolet Malibu, 2018-2019 Chevrolet Traverse or 2016-2019 Chevrolet Volt vehicles.
The customer must have also sought a repair from a GM dealer about the Shift to Park problem during the original warranty period.
And the customer must not have been provided with a silicon-free replacement part.
Tennessee Vehicles
Included are original purchasers and lessees of new 2017-2018 GMC Acadia vehicles in Tennessee and who sought a repair from a GM dealer regarding the Shift to Park problem during the warranty period.
In addition, the Tennessee customer must not have been provided with either a silicon-free replacement shifter assembly or silicon-free shifter control wire harness for free.
A General Motors customer may receive a $500 cash payment to be divided equally among any class members who co-own or co-lease a vehicle.
According to the Shift to Park class action settlement, the vehicle owners (Rilla Jefferson and Mark Riley) who filed the class action lawsuit will receive $10,000 each. And the lawyers representing owners will receive $2,035,000.
The GM Shift to Park class action lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee: Jefferson v. General Motors, and Riley v. General Motors.
The plaintiffs are represented by Lemberg Law LLC, Lafferty Law Firm, Inc., and The Chandra Law Firm, LLC.