Attorneys Say DaimlerChrysler Denials on Redlining Suits 'Brimming With Inaccuracies'
Auto Spies perspective: You don't think car dealers really do that, do you? Next thing they'll say, is athletes are on steriods. :)
If this has ever happened to you please email us at rumors@autospies.com
Highlights from the article from PRnewswire:
CHICAGO, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- In a lawsuit claiming DaimlerChrysler (Chrysler) (NYSE: DCX) denied credit to customers based on race, attorneys for the plaintiffs today refuted claims in Chrysler's response to the suit released late Monday. According to Steve Berman, the attorney representing six named plaintiffs in the proposed class action, Chrysler's response to the lawsuit omits crucial facts. "The response to the charges leveled in the suit is absolutely brimming with inaccuracies."
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Illinois on Feb. 3, claims Chrysler management systematically and intentionally denied low-interest vehicle financing to creditworthy blacks in two Chicago neighborhoods, based on the neighborhood in which they lived and the dealership they selected to purchase the car. The suit also contends that the practice continues today in the Chicago area and Chrysler's Illinois sales zone.
According to Berman, perhaps the most outrageous of Chrysler's claims is that Gorman's dealership was providing false information to Chrysler in an attempt to win credit approval through the ACE system. "We show in our complaint that Chrysler's zone manager claimed that there was fraud involved, but at Chrysler Financial headquarters," Berman noted.
According to the complaint, the Chrysler zone manager told Gorman and others that it was his opinion that sales contracts had been accepted and bought by Chrysler because an African-American credit analyst at Chrysler's regional headquarters manipulated the computer system in order to get the deals approved.
The complaint states that the zone manager told Gorman "Our nigger ... was manipulating our computer system to get these niggers bought [meaning, to get their financing approved]. I've fired our nigger and I want you to fire your niggers ..." (par. 77) According to Gorman, when he suggested to the zone manager that Chrysler contact the authorities regarding the possibility of fraud within Chrysler headquarters, the zone manager refused this suggestion and explained that the insurer for the loss would be Chrysler Insurance Company and, thus, any claim would only shift the loss from Chrysler Financial to Chrysler Insurance.
The class-action suit seeks damages related to civil rights violations and the paying of higher interest rates by plaintiffs, as well as punitive damages to deter the company from discriminatory conduct. For more information or to view the complaint, visit http://www.hagens-berman.com