The judge presiding over General Motors‘ racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has given the Italian-American automaker a bit of a break for the time being.
As The Detroit News reports, U.S. District Judge Paul Borman has ruled FCA does not have to immediately turn over documents to GM that it had requested. Borman said the automaker can delay releasing the documents while he determines whether or not the case should be thrown out. FCA filed to have the case dismissed last month, saying it was flawed and featured “hyperbolic claims.”
Former FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne
GM filed a federal racketeering case against FCA last November, accusing the automaker of bribing UAW officials in order to get a favorable deal with the union under the 2011 and 2015 national agreements with the Detroit Big Three. GM’s case also alleged FCA did this with the intent of weakening GM’s business and increasing the chances that it would enter a merger with FCA. Former FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne had previously been looking to merge FCA and GM together and failed to convince GM CEO Mary Barra to do so back in 2015.
GM spokesman Jim Cain said this week the automaker remains “confident in the merits of our case, which is grounded in the long-running conspiracy that FCA orchestrated.”
“We look forward to promptly proceeding with discovery following resolution of their motion to dismiss,” he added.
According to The Detroit News, GM has also demanded the UAW overturn documents as part of the case, including 1.9 million documents that were recovered by the FBI as part of its corruption investigation into the union. With Borman’s decision, the union and other nonparties involved in the case will not have to overturn any documents to GM until a decision is made on whether or not to have it dismissed.
In a statement, FCA said it was “pleased with the judge’s decision to deny General Motors’ motion seeking immediate discovery,” and also added that the case was “meritless and malicious.”
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Source: The Detroit News
Comments
FCA had better pay a hefty price if they are found guilty and so far it’s looking like GM has pretty solid reasons for doing this.
This lawsuit is just sour grapes on the part of GM. My bet is that it will be thrown out of court.
You’re living in a fantasy world. The only way FCA skirts this one is via more corruption (i.e., in the courts). Thuggish union leaders have been falling like flies and if you believe none of those slimes sang like a canary to save their own skin, I have some Daimler-Chrysler stock you might be interested in… a truly great buy for a fanatic.
Kind of like a “Ford Guy” on a GM enthusiast site?
GM had the same opportunity to negotiate a favorable contract for itself in 2011 and 2015 especially since FCA settled first in 2015. Instead GM dud not hold out for a better contract, caved and now are blaming FCA. The fact that GM hired Iacobelli from FCA as their negotiator after he bribed UAW officials while at FCA makes GM look especially bad.
That’s FCA’s story. Unfortunately, you/they have to convince a judge, not me.
Good luck. You/they will need it.
Thanks for your concern, but I have no skin in the game either way ;). With that being said, I think you are giving GM’s upper management way too much credit in this situation.