Small Claims Award Against Honda Reversed; No Appeal for Class Settlement Opt-Out

LOS ANGELES—A nearly $10,000 small claims award that a California woman won against American Honda Motor Co. after opting out of a nationwide settlement of a class action over fuel efficiency is overturned May 9 by a California Superior Court judge (Peters v. American Honda Motor Co.).

The ruling from Judge Dudley W. Gray II came in Honda’s appeal of the $9,867.19 judgment in favor of Heather Peters, who opted out of a deal resolving a nationwide class suit that alleged the Japanese automaker misrepresented the fuel efficiency of certain Honda Civic Hybrid models.

Peters’s small claims victory ...