TDI: Woman Sues VW for Selling ‘Dirty Diesels’
Why’d She Buy a TDI?
You could say Morgan A. Horton leads a “green lifestyle.” To avoid excessive emissions from “produce being transported thousands of miles,” she even shops locally and picks her own fruit.
Thus, it would make sense that Volkswagen’s ads from 2009-2015 about the cleanliness of their TDI diesels would appeal to her. So, in 2012, Morgan decided to purchase a Volkswagen Golf TDI sedan to help the environment and herself out.
Big Money…
Now, Morgan is now suing VW for $89,773 (three times what she paid for her vehicle) on the grounds that VW violated her trust. Turns out Morgan didn’t know about the “defeat devices” VW installed on TDI vehicles made from 2009 to 2015.
(Turns out that 11 million TDI owners around the world didn’t know their cars were exceeding legal emission levels, either. As of November, VW sales dropped 25% in the U.S.)
So, instead of driving around an eco-friendly daily driver like she already assumed she was doing, Morgan (who claims she leads a “lifestyle that promotes sustainability and limiting harmful emissions that increase global warming”) unknowingly was hauling around what she calls, a “dirty diesel vehicle.”
It Worsened Her Health
In addition to the $89,773 she seeks for her violation of trust, Morgan is claiming $50,000 in damages to personal health. Horton claims that the “illegal emissions” spewed by her TDI caused a tightening in her chest and other physical discomforts.
Morgan, who is from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, originally launched her lawsuit against the German automaker in Cumberland County Court, the same county where she bought her TDI.
However, the case has been moved to the federal court where Chief Judge Christopher C. Conner will preside over the hearings.
Should Morgan win the $139,773 she’s seeking?
What do you think?
