A federal judge restarted a class action alleging that Mercedes-Benz, like Volkswagen, installed software in its BlueTec clean diesel vehicles to cheat emissions tests.
In a Feb. 1 order, U.S. District Judge Jose Linares in New Jersey refused to dismiss most of the claims in the case, including those brought under the U.S. Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act against Mercedes-Benz and Bosch GmbH, which made the emissions software. Linares had dismissed most of the claims in 2016 on standing grounds, concluding that plaintiffs had failed to allege that Mercedes’ conduct caused their injuries. Mercedes-Benz had tried to use many of the same arguments to dismiss the case again, but Linares, in his new order, cited recent rulings in other emissions class actions involving Volkswagen, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
