The U.S. Supreme Court will not take on a dismissed racketeering case General Motors brought against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, now known as Stellantis.
The denial was included in a daily order list from the court on Monday.
The decision by the nation’s highest court would appear to signal the end for a federal lawsuit originally filed in November 2019 that was tied to the long-running corruption scandal involving former UAW leaders and automotive executives. The federal lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice at the U.S. District Court level. GM sought Supreme Court review after the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the dismissal.
GM claimed FCA and its legendary late boss Sergio Marchionne corrupted the contract bargaining process to hurt GM by saddling it with unnecessary extra labor costs in an attempt to force a merger between the automakers. That merger never happened, but GM said the damage was done.
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“If the court does not grant certiorari — its term for accepting the case appeal — it is the end of the line. The district court decision that was upheld by the circuit court of appeals stands, and GM is out of luck,” Erik Gordon, a professor at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, said earlier in response to questions about GM’s request to the Supreme Court. “A tiny proportion of applications for certiorari are granted by the Court — at most 1%, but the statistic is misleading in that many applications are frivolous. Even non-frivolous applications face a difficult hurdle because the court does not like to substitute its judgment for the judgment of lower courts.”
Despite the decision by the Supreme Court, GM still appears intent on pursuing its claims against FCA.
“We are continuing to press our case against Stellantis and the other defendants in Michigan state court, where GM’s claims are different and much broader than those brought under the federal racketeering statute. Today’s decision has no impact on that case and our efforts to hold defendants accountable for the harm they inflicted on GM as a result of their admitted corruption,” according to a statement from GM spokeswoman Maria Raynal.
The state court case is currently active in Wayne County Circuit Court. It was dismissed in 2021 but later revived. That case named Alphons Iacobelli and Jerome Durden as defendants in addition to FCA. Iacobelli was the onetime lead labor negotiator for FCA later hired by GM, and Durden was an FCA financial analyst, both of whom were convicted in the corruption scandal
Stellantis has consistently called GM’s claims meritless, which it reiterated on Monday.
“We are pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has denied GM’s latest attempt to resuscitate the baseless claims that GM has sought to bring in various forms in multiple jurisdictions. Today’s decision upholding the district court’s dismissal of GM’s lawsuit is another reaffirmation that its claims are meritless. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously against these allegations and we will not be distracted from our focus on competing and winning in the marketplace,” according to a statement provided by Stellantis spokeswoman Shawn Morgan.
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GM’s lawsuit had heavy echoes of the federal government’s corruption case that sent former United Auto Workers and FCA officials, including two ex-union presidents, to prison, but GM also brought new allegations to its racketeering suit, claiming offshore bank accounts were used to fuel a bribery scheme and that former GM board member and UAW Vice President Joe Ashton was actually a paid mole for FCA. Ashton was among those convicted in the corruption probe. FCA, the U.S. operating arm for Stellantis, pleaded guilty in 2021 to a conspiracy charge connected to the probe and agreed to pay $30 million.
The UAW was not a defendant in the GM suit.
Free Press staff writer Todd Spangler contributed to this report.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: elawrence@freepress.com. Become a subscriber.