GM Hit With $102.6-Million Verdict in Class Action Piston Ring Lawsuit
General Motors was hit with a massive $102.6-million verdict on Tuesday after a federal jury ruled it allegedly sold engines with faulty piston rings to customers, leading to excessive oil consumption and premature engine wear, law.com reports.
DiCello Levitt, the trial firm that represented all 38,000 members of the class action suit, said in a statement released Wednesday GM knowingly sold vehicles with defective piston rings and did not do enough to remedy the issue, despite learning of the problem early on. In 2010, GM recommended to its dealers that they clean the pistons of the affected vehicles, which proved ineffective. The company changed minor parts of the engine's design in 2011, though those changes did not fix the issue. The engine was eventually discontinued after the 2014 model year.
In this case, the trucks and SUVs affected were all equipped with the company's Generation IV Vortec 5300 LC9 5.3-liter V-8 engine. The verdict means each of the class members will be awarded $2700 in compensation.
“I am exceptionally proud of our trial team for its tireless preparation and aggressive advocacy is this case," lead counsel Christopher Stombaugh said in a statement. “I am also thankful for the courage of the jury, which did the right thing in holding GM responsible for its deceit and half-hearted efforts to address its problems."
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