Fiat asks judge to dismiss General Motors suit

Lawyers for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles have filed a motion asking a federal judge to dismiss a racketeering lawsuit brought against the automaker by rival General Motors.

GM filed its lawsuit in November claiming that FCA executives had bribed officials of the United Auto Workers to put GM at a labor-cost disadvantage.

FCA lawyers in the briefs filed in the US District Court in Detroit said, “GM’s claims, however, bear no resemblance to what Congress had in mind in enacting RICO.”

GM’s case is built on documents pulled from an ongoing federal investigation into corruption in the UAW, which has led to the resignation of the union’s president and the indictment of several union officers and officials.

The federal investigation, which began four years ago, also uncovered criminal activity by former FCA employees, who were dismissed for violating company policy. Alphons Iacobelli, FCA’s former vice president of labor relations is currently serving a prison sentence for his role in the scandal.

Neither GM’s lawsuit nor the union scandal are expected to derail FCA’s merger with PSA.

Full Content: The Detroit Bureau

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