By Euan Rocha
TORONTO, July 29 (Reuters) - A Canadian law firm said it
filed a lawsuit against Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (NYSE:FCAU) FCHA.MI on
Wednesday seeking about $4 billion in damages, in connection
with the massive recall announced by the automaker earlier in
July. ID:nL5N1072Y3
Merchant Law Group said the lawsuit, which seeks class
action status, was filed in the Superior Court in Montreal. It
said it plans to file claims later this week in courts in
Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia.
A Fiat Chrysler spokeswoman said the company has not yet
been served with the lawsuit and that it would be inappropriate
to comment until it had studied the allegations in the action.
Milan-listed shares in Fiat Chrysler fell sharply on Monday.
The stock itself was briefly suspended from trading due to
worries about the impact of several recall actions in the United
States announced in recent days. ID:nL5N1072Y3
The company said on Friday it would recall 1.4 million
vehicles in the United States to install software to prevent
hackers from gaining remote control of their engines.
ID:nL1N1041QI
The U.S. auto safety watchdog, the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, on Sunday slapped a record $105 million
fine against Fiat Chrysler over lapses in safety recalls
involving millions of vehicles. ID:nL1N1060HQ
The company has so far not duplicated the entire U.S.
vehicle recall in Canada, but automakers typically do end up
replicating any such recalls in the Canadian market.
Canadian Transport Minister Lisa Raitt told the CBC earlier
this week that she had been blindsided by Fiat Chrysler's U.S.
recall and added that her department was looking into the
matter.
(Editing by Jonathan Oatis)