Class Action Win for Lipe Lyons Client
August 20, 2013In a case pending in the Cook County Chancery Division for more than six years , Lipe Lyons prevailed in the all-important motion for class certification. The suit, Waypoint Aviation Services, Inc. v. Lycoming Engines, a division of Avco Corporation, and Textron, Inc. involved a claim brought on behalf of a putative class of 5000 owners, operators, and lessors of general aviation aircraft equipped with engines manufactured by Lycoming. The suit alleged that the crankshafts in the subject engines were defective and that Lycoming should be held liable for $60 million for replacement costs as well as damages for diminution in aircraft value and loss of use. The complaint was amended five times over the years with the last one naming 13 plaintiffs who sought recovery based upon the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act, certification of an Illinois Sub-Class, and certification of a multi-state class based upon alleged violations of “similar laws in other States of the United States.” Motions for class certification were fully briefed and argued twice – in April, 2010 and February, 2013. On July 11, 2013, in an eight-page Memorandum Opinion and Order, the Circuit Court of Cook County denied the Plaintiffs’ motion for class certification. The Plaintiff filed a Petition for Leave to Appeal on August 8, 2013.