DETROIT _ General Motors has filed notice of its expected appeal to reinstate the automaker's racketeering lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
The filing Monday follows by just a few days U.S. District Court Judge Paul Borman's rejection of GM's attempt to revive the suit, which Borman had earlier dismissed. At one point, Borman had called the case a waste of resources should it be allowed to proceed, and he tried to get the two CEOs, Mary Barra at GM and Mike Manley at FCA, to meet.
The case, which GM is appealing to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, has relied heavily on the federal corruption probe, which has led to 14 convictions against former UAW and FCA officials, including Gary Jones, a former union president, and Alphons Iacobelli, the onetime lead labor negotiator for FCA. However, the case has also snagged former GM board member and UAW vice president Joe Ashton.
The UAW is not a defendant in the GM suit, which accuses FCA of corrupting the contract bargaining process, costing it billions of dollars, and intentionally trying to hurt GM. FCA has called the case meritless and GM's actions "despicable."
When Borman on Friday rejected GM's attempt to revive the case, GM, which said it had new evidence of offshore accounts to fuel a bribery scheme and that Ashton was a paid mole, called that decision "disappointing, as the corruption in this case is proven given the many guilty pleas from the ongoing federal investigation. GM's suit will continue _ we will not accept corruption."
FCA cheered Borman's decision, saying GM's "attempt to submit an amended complaint under the guise of asking the court to change its mind was nothing more than a baseless attempt to smear a competitor that is winning in the marketplace."
