After four years of litigation, investors and Daimler AG have agreed to a $19 million class action settlement. The complaint was initially filed on April 29, 2016 in USDC California (Central). This closes one chapter – of many – from the emissions scandals that rocked a number of automobile manufacturers last decade.
This U.S.-based settlement allows shareholders who purchased Daimler’s American Depository Receipts in the period from February 22, 2012 through April 21, 2016 to participate in the action… provided a claim is filed prior to December 7, 2020. Investors were led by the court appointed lead plaintiff, Public School Retirement System of the School District of Kansas City, Missouri.
Based upon the lead plaintiff’s damages expert, who estimated the total number of Daimler American Depository Receipts, the average investor recovery will be approximately $0.68 per damaged share (before deduction of attorney and administration expenses) or approximately $0.47 per damaged share after the deduction of such fees. As in all shareholder class action settlements, these average recovery amounts are only estimates, with the exact recovery amount unknown until all eligible claims are submitted, reviewed, and approved.
Daimler is ending allegations it issued false and misleading statements about its compliance with emissions standards and the company’s purported eco-friendly BlueTEC diesel engines.
It is critically important for investors to understand that this settlement ends the U.S. based class action only. Like its competitor Volkswagen AG, who is facing multiple shareholder class actions with similar emissions-based allegations, Daimler AG has four cases in Germany that remain active:
| Case Name | Country | Lead Counsel / Litigation Funder | Case Status | Settlement |
| Daimler AG | Germany | Arnold & Porter / Deminor | Active | N/A |
| Daimler AG | Germany | Therium / DRRT | Active | N/A |
| Daimler AG | Germany | Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd | Active | N/A |
| Daimler AG | Germany | Rotter Rechtsanwaelte / Advofin AG | Active | N/A |
ISS Securities Class Action Services will keep its clients up-to-date on any further case developments, including the disbursement details following the critical claim deadline date in late 2020.
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By Jeff Lubitz, Executive Director, ISS Securities Class Action Services
