NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A judicial panel has decided to consolidate hundreds of lawsuits against Volkswagen over its emissions cheating scandal in California, a focal point of the carmaker's troubles.
The Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation gave U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer in San Francisco oversight of more than 450 suits filed against the carmaker nationwide.
The panel met last week in New Orleans to hear from numerous lawyers who were seeking to get the suits consolidated in a particular federal district. Volkswagen and the federal government asked the panel to centralize the suits in Michigan.
Lawyers for VW and the Justice Department did not immediately return messages seeking comment.
VW has admitted that 482,000 2-liter diesel vehicles in the U.S., including some built here in Tennessee, contained software that turned pollution controls on during government tests and off during real-world driving.