General Motors President and CEO Mary Barra addresses the meeting on Wednesday, June 3, 2020 during a press conference of corporate leaders speaking out against racism and injustice at Detroit, Michigan City Hall.
GM
A federal appeals court temporarily suspended a judge-ordered meeting between General Motors CEO Mary Barra and Fiat Chrysler CEO Mike Manley to settle a civil organized crime lawsuit.
The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals for the United States said Monday that an order by United States District Court Judge Paul Borman last week requesting that the meeting be held before July 1 “It was suspended until this court considers it more.”
The suspension comes three days after GM filed a petition to remove Borman from the case. He previously called GM’s civilian organized crime lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler a “waste of time.” GM also asked the appeals court to set aside the order ordering the meeting.
Fiat Chrysler filed a response Monday questioning GM’s intentions to try to eliminate Borman and reassign the case.
“GM may be unhappy with the questions Judge Borman raised during an oral argument regarding the validity of GM’s claims (claims that FCA believes have no merit), but asking difficult questions is a court mandate. “It is not sufficient reason for a judge to be removed from a case charge,” the filing said.
Fiat Chrysler’s attorneys argue that “there is nothing remarkable” about a judge asking the parties to explore, at an early stage of litigation, whether a “settlement is feasible.”
Fiat Chrysler also reiterated in a statement Monday that it claims the lawsuit is without merit. “The FCA will continue to vigorously defend itself and seek all available remedies in response to this unsubstantiated lawsuit,” he said.
Jim Cain, a GM spokesman, said the company awaits “the review and decision of the Sixth Circuit.”
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) CEO Mike Manley
Massimo Pinca | Reuters
GM said last week that it rejected “the notion that seeking justice for direct harm caused to GM is a ‘waste of time’, a ‘distraction’ or a ‘distraction'” from more pressing and larger issues, such as the coronavirus and racial. injustice after the death of George Floyd. All were points used by Borman during a hearing on Tuesday, where Fiat Chrysler asked the judge to dismiss GM’s lawsuit.
GM filed the extortion suit in November, alleging that the company was hurt as a result of a “corrupt” collective bargaining in which Fiat Chrysler leaders bribed union officials to give the company cheaper labor costs. Although the United Auto Workers union uses “patterned” negotiations, GM said it did not receive the same benefits as the Italian-American automaker.
Much of the lawsuit centers on the late Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne, who died unexpectedly in 2018 and has been implicated in a federal investigation into the union’s bribery and corruption.
The United States Department of Justice case is ongoing, however, federal prosecutors in May said GM was not currently the target of the yearlong investigation.
GM seeks unspecified damages in the billions that, according to the lawsuit, “will be used to invest in the United States to create jobs and for the benefit of employees.”
The federal investigation has resulted in 14 convictions, including former UAW President Gary Jones and 10 other union-affiliated officials, as well as three former Fiat Chrysler executives.
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