GM to appeal dismissal of RICO lawsuit vs. FCA

DETROIT — General Motors is appealing the dismissal of its racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals after a judge denied GM’s motion to revive the case last week.

GM filed the notice of appeal late Monday.

U.S. District Judge Paul Borman said last week that new evidence GM presented as it asked the court to reinstate the case was “too speculative.”

GM alleged that FCA and co-conspirators were guilty of “corporate espionage” that directly harmed GM. FCA and co-conspirators used a network of offshore bank accounts containing millions of dollars to harm GM, the automaker alleged in a proposed amended complaint this month. GM also named former UAW members as defendants in the amended complaint. Initially, only FCA and ex-FCA officials were defendants.

In the lawsuit, which was filed in November, GM said that FCA coordinated a yearslong bribery scheme with UAW leaders to gain an unfair labor-cost advantage. The suit also claimed that former FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne, who died in 2018, wanted to hurt GM in an effort to force a merger between the rival automakers.

In July, Borman dismissed the case with prejudice after calling it “a waste of time and resources for years to come.”

After Borman’s ruling last week FCA said GM’s case is “meritless” and its amended complaint “nothing more than a baseless attempt to smear a competitor that is winning in the marketplace.”