Glenn v. Hyundai Motor: Defeating Primary Jurisdiction and Preemption Arguments

Last month, Judge David O. Carter of the Central District of California issued an order granting in part Hyundai’s Motion to Dismiss and/or Strike Allegations in First Amended Complaint in Glenn, et al. v. Hyundai Motor America, et al. No. SA CV 15-2052-DOC (June 24, 2016 C.D. Cal.) (slip op. available here). The Glenn plaintiffs had alleged that the Hyundai vehicles’ panoramic sunroofs had a tendency to spontaneously shatter. Notably, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (“NHTSA”) had already begun investigating the same sunroof issues in the Sorento, a vehicle produced by Kia, Hyundai’s sister company. The Glenn plaintiffs demanded injunctive relief in the form of a recall. Hyundai moved to dismiss the plaintiffs’ prayer for a recall injunction under the doctrines of primary jurisdiction and preemption. The district court, in addition to leaving intact the plaintiffs’ remaining fraud-based claims and allowing the plaintiffs to have standing to represent consumers who purchased different vehicles, denied Hyundai’s motion on the grounds of primary jurisdiction and preemption, providing guidance for other class action plaintiffs on how to avoid such a dismissal.

The primary jurisdiction doctrine applies, exempting an issue from federal court jurisdiction, based on: “(1) the need to resolve an issue (2) that has been placed by Congress within the jurisdiction of an administrative body having regulatory authority (3) pursuant to a statute that subjects an industry or activity to a comprehensive regulatory authority that (4) requires expertise or uniformity in administration.” Slip op. at 24 (quoting Astiana v. Hain Celestial Grp., Inc., 783 F.3d 753, 760 (9th Cir. 2015) (internal citations omitted)). The district court in Glenn held that, applying these considerations, the primary jurisdiction doctrine did not apply. As to the first two elements, the court found that because the plaintiffs sought monetary relief—relief beyond what NHTSA can provide in a recall—there is a substantial need to resolve the issue in court. Id. Regarding the third factor, there was also no authority suggesting that Congress intended NHTSA to have exclusive regulatory authority over vehicle safety. Id. at 24. Even though Hyundai had been asked to cooperate with NHTSA in its Kia Sorento sunroof investigation, the court found that the scope of NHTSA’s investigation did not clearly cover all of the Glenn class vehicles and thus, no actual conflict existed between the plaintiffs’ claims regarding the Hyundai sunroofs and NHTSA’s Kia investigation. Id. at 25 (quoting In re Toyota Motor Corp. Unintended Acceleration Mktg. Sales Practices and Prods. Liab. Litig., 754 F. Supp. 2d 1145, 1199 (C.D. Cal. 2010)). Finally, the court noted that the plaintiffs’ claims were strictly based on state and federal consumer protection laws, as opposed to the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (“Safety Act”) or NHTSA regulations, and thus there is no need to ensure uniformity of regulation and NHTSA is not better-equipped than the court to address the issues presented. Id.

Similarly, the court held that the plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief was not preempted by the Safety Act at this point, finding that Hyundai had not “met its burden of showing that it was Congress’ clear and manifest intent for the Safety Act to preempt the relief Plaintiffs seek pursuant to their State law claims.” In re Toyota, at 1197 (emphasis added). Hyundai failed to show that the ongoing NHTSA investigation with Kia encompasses all the models of the Glenn class vehicles, and thus, the court declined to find preemption because there was no actual conflict between the relief the plaintiffs sought and the Safety Act. Slip op. at 26.

These findings are instructive when developing a car class action where a NHTSA investigation is already ongoing and the plaintiff is confronted with a defendant’s argument that its claims for a recall injunction should be dismissed due to the doctrines of primary jurisdiction or preemption. Plaintiffs should consider demanding monetary relief, distinguishing the vehicles at hand from those under investigation by NHTSA, and basing their claims strictly on state and federal consumer protection laws, with no reference to the Safety Act or NHTSA Regulations, to avoid primary jurisdiction and preemption.

Authored by: 
Tarek Zohdy, Associate
CAPSTONE LAW APC