By Jonathan Stempel
(Reuters) – Nissan (OTC:) convinced a federal appeals court on Friday to drop 10 class actions accusing the Japanese automaker of selling cars and SUVs with defective automatic emergency braking systems that caused vehicles to suddenly stop for no reason.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati said it was improper to classify drivers of 14 Nissan models under the laws of 10 individual states simply by claiming the braking systems did not work.
Drivers claimed they experienced “phantom” activations of the systems at low overpasses, parking garages and railroad crossings, rather than when collisions were imminent.
However, Chief Judge Jeffrey Sutton wrote for a three-judge panel that some drivers may never have suddenly braked or requested repairs.
He also said Nissan made “individual” software upgrades for different models that appeared to fix the problem for some drivers, suggesting there was not a general defect.
“Analyzing the various manifestations of the alleged defect is necessary to assess whether common evidence could vindicate Plaintiffs or Nissan on a class-wide basis,” Sutton wrote.
Class actions may allow plaintiffs to obtain greater remedies at a lower cost than if they were forced to sue individually.
The lawsuit covers Nissan’s 2017 to 2020 Rogue, 2017 to 2021 Rogue Sport, 2019 to 2021 Altima and 2020 to 2021 Kicks.
The 10 states are California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
Attorneys for the drivers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Nissan and its lawyers did not immediately respond to similar requests.
The appeals court sent the case back to a judge in Nashville, Tennessee, for further proceedings, potentially allowing for new evidence in support of the class certification. Nissan has factories in Smyrna and Decherd, Tennessee.
The case is: Nissan North America Inc Litigation, 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 23-5950.
