FCA Dealer’s Monostable Gearshift Injury Lawsuit to Go to Trial

FCA US LLC fell short in its pretrial bid to defeat a rollaway injury suit by a family member of one of its dealers, when a federal court in Michigan rejected the company’s argument the suit was filed too late.

The automaker’s alleged deception about the shifting error rate of its “monostable” gear shifter, and other alleged misrepresentations, could allow a jury to find it delayed the starting of the litigation clock, Judge David M. Lawson said Tuesday.

Lawson, with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, reiterated a conclusion he came to at an earlier stage ...