Category Archives: litigation

NHTSA Verifies Additional Chrysler Takata Fatality

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) this morning verified another Takata rupture fatality, bringing the total of number of Takata fatalities confirmed this year to five. One person died in a recent crash in a 2010 Chrysler 300 where the Takata driver’s side air bag inflator ruptured sending shrapnel into the interior.

This brings the total of Takata fatalities to 24, and the third confirmed this year in a Fiat Chrysler sedan. Continue reading

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Chinese Government Intelligence Officer Sentenced to Prison

Yanjun Xu, 42, was sentenced to 20 years in prison. According to court documents, Xu targeted American aviation companies, recruited employees to travel to China, and solicited their proprietary information, all on behalf of the government of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The Justice Department and the FBI of course are involved in other grave national security matters that if indictments come won’t require extradition of the alleged offender and co-conspirators from Mir-a-Lago. Continue reading

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CARB settles with FCA for $5.6M on Air Quality Violations

FCA cooperated with CARB to resolve all allegations of violating Motor Vehicle Pollution Control Devices regulations. FCA’s settlement includes a $2.8 million civil penalty that will go to CARB’s Air Pollution Control Fund, which provides funding for projects and research to improve California’s air quality. Continue reading

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Russian Oligarch Oleg Vladimirovich Deripaska Indicted

It’s just another example of how treacherous the waters of global trade are for multinational corporations with implications for automobile businesses that operate under totalitarian  governments. Continue reading

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Atlantic Richfield to Finish Anaconda Smelter Cleanup

Decades of copper smelting activity at the town of Anaconda polluted the soils in yards, commercial and industrial areas, pastures and open spaces throughout the 300-square-mile Anaconda Site. This pollution has in turn contributed to the contamination of creeks and other surface waters at the Site, as well as of alluvial and bedrock ground water. The closure of smelting operations in 1980 left large volumes of smelter slag, flue dust and hazardous rock tailings that have had to be secured through a variety of remediation methods. Continue reading

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FCA Emissions Fraud: Accountability or Accountancy?

Whether this accountable enough or not is subject to debate. Critics say that this is just cash register justice whereby wealthy corporations buy their way out of criminal trouble and recover the costs through ongoing operations. Defenders point to the amount – a $300M criminal penalty – along with the organizational probation where FCA will be monitored for its regulatory behaviors. There are also outstanding individual criminal cases.
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Flo~Pro Performance Exhaust To Halt Sales of Defeat Devices

The complaint, filed simultaneously with the consent decree, alleges that the parts described below are “defeat devices” prohibited by the CAA. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that prior to its 2018 investigation, Flo~Pro manufactured or sold more than 100,000 aftermarket defeat devices in the United States per year. In early 2019, Flo~Pro suspended sales of the defeat devices in the United States in an effort to resolve this matter. The consent decree for this settlement was lodged in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas and will be open for public comments for a period of 30 days. Continue reading

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Auto Warranty Scams: FCC Acts Against Robocalls and Texts

“Billions of auto warranty robocalls from a single calling campaign. Billions! Auto warranty scams are one of the top complaints we get from consumers and it’s time to hold those responsible for making these junk calls,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel.  Continue reading

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SEC Charges Autonomous Vehicle Supplier NVIDIA with Shoddy Disclosures

NVIDIA is a US-based artificial intelligence (AI) computing company that is a significant automotive supplier for an important building block in a network of several individual ECUs (Electronic control units)  used in automated and driverless vehicles. It goes by the name Drive Pegasus. Continue reading

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NLRB – National Labor Relations Act Protects Immigrants

Today, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo released a new protocol to advance immigrant worker protections to freely exercise rights under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and safely participate in NLRB investigations. Continue reading

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EPA Sued to Set New Limits on Soot, Sulfur, Nitrogen Pollution

Plaintiffs appear to have a compelling case. According to the pleadings, EPA’s latest update and review of the welfare-based standards for sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides was in June 2012; new standards were due in June 2017. The EPA last updated the particulate matter welfare-based standards in March 2013, so new updates to those standards were due in March 2018. Continue reading

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NLRB Sues Starbucks for Unfair Labor Practices

The lawsuit seeks immediate reinstatement of the three. Section 10(j) of the National Labor Relations Act authorizes the National Labor Relations Board to seek injunctions against employers and unions in federal district courts to stop unfair labor practices where, due to the passage of time, the normal Board processes are likely to be inadequate to effectively remedy the alleged violations. Continue reading

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Court Upholds EPA on Imports from Chinese Vehicle Makers

Moreover the District Court also affirmed the $1,601,150 civil penalty assessed by the Administrative Law Judge. The challenge was brought by Taotao USA, Inc, Taotao Group Co., Ltd., and Jinyun County Xiangyuan Industry Co., Ltd. (plaintiffs). Continue reading

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EPA: Bans Asbestos – First Under Chemical Safety Act

The proposed rule would ban chrysotile asbestos, the only known form of asbestos that’s currently imported into the U.S., which is found in products such as asbestos diaphragms, sheet gaskets, brake blocks, aftermarket automotive brakes/linings, other vehicle friction products, and other gaskets also imported into the U.S. Most consumer products that historically contained chrysotile asbestos have been discontinued. Continue reading

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