Judicial Panel Orders Consolidation of Pilot Flying J Rebate Cases
A federal judicial panel in Lexington, Ky., ordered the consolidation of seven lawsuits filed against Pilot Flying J seeking damages in connection to a rebate fraud scheme, the Tennessean reported.
The federal Panel of Multidistrict Litigation found the cases dealt with similar factual issues stemming from “allegation that the defendants engaged in a fraudulent scheme of withholding diesel fuel rebates,” the Nashville newspaper reported.
The seven cases have been moved to Kentucky, but the panel noted that more suits are likely to be filed against the truck-stop company.
Pilot attorneys said previously the federal lawsuits filed in Alabama, New Jersey, New Mexico and Ohio should be consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee in Knoxville because they “involve common questions of fact.”
All seven motor carriers who filed the lawsuits against Pilot had opposed the consolidation in briefs and opted out of the settlement agreement.
