UPDATE: Feds Filed Lawsuit Against Volkswagen This Monday
By, M. Doherty 1/4/2016 Borrowed Planet Blog
Volkswagen has a new weight on its’ shoulders: a lawsuit filed by the United States Federal Government. The suit was filed over the numerous vehicles build with fraudulent emissions software, which came to light in 2015 thanks to the work of a whistle blower. This new lawsuit is aimed to force the company to act to remove the software or face heavy fines. While the company has indicated they want to resolve the issue, they have not been forthcoming as to how they plan to respond to the scandal.
Volkswagen installed software that gave a false reading as to the emissions coming from the company’s 2009 to 2015 Volkswagen Golf, Jetta, and Passat; and the Audi car company’s Audi 6 and Audi 7 models. Volkswagen has admitted publically that the company installed the “defeat device” software into the cars while advertising these vehicles as energy efficient. Unbeknownst to consumers the vehicles with these “defeat devices” were emitting as much as 40 times more pollutants into the atmosphere than allowed by the Justice Department and the Clean Air Act. This means that Volkswagen’s cars were so pollutant they could not legally be sold in the United States. The Justice Department has also claimed that Volkswagen violated the Clean Air Act by applying for certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with different vehicle designs than the designs actually used in the cars that were imported into the United States.
The federal civil complaint was filed initially in Detroit, Michigan. Now that the Federal Government has filed suit the company, this means that Volkswagen is being sued not just by the United States, but also by the numerous private class action lawsuits that have been filed against the company from all over the country. Pretrial motions for these private class actions are being reviewed and overseen by a federal judge in San Francisco. The Justice Department stated that they intend to “tag along” with these additional lawsuits against Volkswagen.
So far a full recall has not been implemented and efforts to release an appropriate plan of response have not been forthcoming. The company has however stated that, “Volkswagen will continue to work cooperatively with the EPA on developing remedies to bring the vehicles into full compliance with regulations as soon as possible.” Meanwhile, should the Federal Government have their way and the company is unable to come up with an appropriate plan, the company could face fines and penalties totaling in the billions of dollars.
In a statement to the press, Assistant Attorney General John Cruden claimed, “Car manufacturers that fail to properly certify their cars and that defeat emissions control systems breach the public trust [and] endanger public heath. The Honorable Judge Cruden followed up with a vow to examine, “all appropriate remedies.” According to the Justice Department the lawsuit that was filed today does not rule out the possibility that criminal charges might be filed later on in the investigation. As of right now, time is of the essence for Volkswagen if they expect to resolve this issue and win back public trust.
Volkswagen was reported to have places defeat device software into their 2009 to 2015 car models. When the news broke, the scandal revealed the lengths the company went through to distort the truth about their vehicle’s emissions. As a result, private class action lawsuits, a lawsuit filed by the Federal Government could cost the company billions in fines for violation of the Clean Air Act. The company must act quickly to resolve the problem and repair its image.
“DOJ Seeks Billions From Volkswagen, Audi and Porche In New Lawsuit,” by Mike Levine, January 4, 2016, ABC News; http://news.yahoo.com/doj-seeking-billions-volkswagen-audi-porsche-lawsuit-210523690.html;_ylt=AwrXgSNEf4tWNWIAL2fQtDMD;_ylu=X3oDMTByM3V1YTVuBGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMzBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzcg--
National Public Radio, “Justice Department Files Lawsuit Against Volkswagen Over Emissions Software,” by Sonari Glinton, January 4, 2016; http://www.npr.org/2016/01/04/461945003/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-volkswagen-over-emissions-software
Link to listen to the full NPR story:
http://www.npr.org/2016/01/04/461945003/justice-department-files-lawsuit-against-volkswagen-over-emissions-software
