Jeep Ignition Switch Issues Lead to Class Action Lawsuit

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Chrysler Group LLC was named in a Jeep defective ignition switch class action lawsuit filed on Monday in a California federal court. The class action lawsuit alleges that Chrysler willfully concealed a defect in older Jeep models ignition switches from their consumers.

This ignition switch defect could lead to a stalled engine or even prevent an airbag from deploying during emergencies, similar to the massive GM ignition switch recall connected to numerous deaths and injuries.

The Chrysler class action lawsuit was filed by MLG Automotive Law in California federal court, just a few days after Chrysler recalled 792,000 vehicles over the alleged ignition switch failure.  According to the class action lawsuit, the automaker waited years to reveal the known ignition switch defect present in 2006-2007 Jeep Commander and 2005-2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee models and had received more than 100 complaints about the problem.

Chrysler has said that when the ignition switch is hit by any kind of outside force — for example, a drivers knee hitting the key in the ignition — it could result in the recalled Chrysler vehicles stalling, losing braking power, reduce steering capacity, and the front airbags and other safety features may become disabled.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) last month got the recall started after announcing  an investigation of reports of ignition switch defects in allegedly 1.25 million vehicles made by Chrysler. The Chrysler Jeep ignition switch class action lawsuit comes on the heels of numerous General Motors ignition switch class action lawsuits.

The Jeep ignition switch class action lawsuit states, “Despite the NHTSA requirement that the automaker notify regulators within five days of learning of the defect, Chrysler waited years to come clean. It is unknown how many people have died or been seriously injured because of the defect[.]”

Since June, NHTSA has pursued two ignition switch defect investigations involving about 525,000 Chrysler vehicles after receiving more than 32 complaints reporting the key fob moving out of the accessory mode when hit by a driver’s knee.

The Chrysler Defective Jeep Ignition Switch Lawsuit is Latoya Lumpkin v. Chrysler Group LLC in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. The case number was not immediately available.