Class-action lawsuit targets GM for recalled vehicles

April 09--Austin DePalma's family just thought he was a lousy driver. How else, they wondered, could the 21-year-old Scranton man be involved in four crashes within the past two years?

A federal class-action lawsuit filed Tuesday against General Motors offers a possible explanation: It was the car, not the driver, at fault.

Mr. DePalma, the owner of a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt, is among four lead plaintiffs in a lawsuit that seeks to recover damages for economic harm caused to owners of GM vehicles identified as having a faulty ignition switch that caused the cars to unexpectedly shut off while driving.

The defect, which led GM recently to recall 2.6 million cars, has been blamed for causing crashes that killed at least 13 people nationwide. The lawsuit, filed by several law firms, including Dougherty, Levanthal & Price in Scranton, does not seek any money for physical harm caused to owners, however. It focuses on recovering consequential damages they suffered, including repair and towing costs, lost resale value and increases in insurance premiums resulting from accidents caused by the defect, said attorney Paul Oven of Scranton, one of the lead attorneys in the case.

"The consequential damages is the most pervasive problem," said Mr. Oven. "Jacked insurance rates, towing and repair costs. Property damage claims ... We are looking to recover all those damages for people."

Mr. Oven joined with attorneys from two Philadelphia law firms to file the suit against GM and Delphia Automotive, the manufacturer of the switch. GM has acknowledged the switch could be jostled into the accessory position while driving, causing the car to lose electrical power that would disable the power brakes, steering and air bags.

The lawsuit names Mr. DePalma, Bob and Dorothy McCann, of Philadelphia, and Paul Pollastro, of Coraopolis, as the lead plaintiffs. The attorneys are seeking to certify the complaint as a class action that could include as many as 2.6 million Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn car owners whose vehicles have been identified as possibly having the defect.

Mary DePalma, grandmother of Austin DePalma, contacted the attorneys after receiving notice of the recall on March 18. She was relieved to have another possible explanation for the crashes, she said.

"Everybody kept saying, 'He's 21, he's irresponsible, he must be driving too fast and doing this or doing that,'" Mrs. DePalma said. "I said, 'this can't be."'

Mrs. DePalma said her grandson struck four vehicles, the last being in January, after he said the car's engine shut off, causing him to lose his power brakes and steering. The rash of crashes led his insurance company to cancel his policy. She finally found another firm to insure him, but his premium doubled from about $130 to $262 a month, she said. She also spent several thousand dollars to cover some damages she did not submit to insurance out of fear he would be cancelled again, she said.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Harrisburg, is a scathing rebuke to GM, alleging the automaker knew of the ignition problem as early as 2001, but concealed that information to avoid the cost of replacing a part GM acknowledged cost 57 cents.

"GM instructed service shops to provide defective vehicle owners with a new key ring if they complained about unintended shut down, rather than admit what (it) knew -- that the ignition switches were dangerously defective," the suit states.

The suit seeks damages for breach of warranty and violations of federal and state consumer protection laws, including Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection law. Those statutes would allow owners to recover as much as three times the actual damages they incurred.

Mr. Oven said one of the key issues the vehicle owners face now is the loss of resale value of their cars.

"Who is going to buy these cars even with the remedy? They truly are damaged goods in every sense of the word," he said.

Mrs. DePalma said she immediately called GM after getting the recall notice. It took some pressing, but the company agreed immediately to take the car in for repair and provide her grandson a rental vehicle.

"I started screaming at them," she said. "I said thank God he did not have any physical injuries, but what was going to happen if there was a fifth accident? Am I going to be visiting his grave site?"

Kelly Ruddy, 21, of Scranton, was killed in 2010, when her Chevrolet Cobalt veered inexplicably off the highway and crashed.

Mrs. DePalma said GM has not yet told her if it confirmed the switch in her grandson's car was defective. She is sure it was, given that the air bag never deployed in any of the crashes, all of which were front-end collisions. She said she hopes the lawsuit will help bring awareness to the public of their rights, and that she and her grandson will some day be fully reimbursed for their expenses.

"He has to carry these accidents on his record for three years. I just want them to pay off his debt and make him happy," she said.

Contact the writer: [email protected]

___

(c)2014 The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.)

Visit The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.) at thetimes-tribune.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services