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Kentucky sues Volkswagen over diesel emissions

FILE - This Sept. 22, 2015, file photo, shows the Volkswagen logo on a car during the Car Show in Frankfurt, Germany. Volkswagen deleted documents and obstructed justice after the U.S. Environmental Protection accused the company of cheating on emissions tests, a former employee alleges in a lawsuit. Daniel Donovan says in a whistleblower case that he was wrongfully fired Dec. 6, 2015, after refusing to participate in the deletions and reporting them to a supervisor. The lawsuit says that the evidence deletion continued for three days after the Sept. 18 allegations from the EPA and despite a hold order from the Justice Department. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)
FILE - This Sept. 22, 2015, file photo, shows the Volkswagen logo on a car during the Car Show in Frankfurt, Germany. Volkswagen deleted documents and obstructed justice after the U.S. Environmental Protection accused the company of cheating on emissions tests, a former employee alleges in a lawsuit. Daniel Donovan says in a whistleblower case that he was wrongfully fired Dec. 6, 2015, after refusing to participate in the deletions and reporting them to a supervisor. The lawsuit says that the evidence deletion continued for three days after the Sept. 18 allegations from the EPA and despite a hold order from the Justice Department. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, File)

By Times Free Press Staff 1 min read

Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear sued Volkswagen today, claiming the German automaker’s diesel emissions cheating scheme violated the state’s consumer protection law.

The lawsuit, filed in a state court, seeks civil penalties potentially totaling millions of dollars, plus restitution for the owners of nearly 3,800 vehicles registered in Kentucky, Beshear said.

“We have a very strong law that is meant to prevent companies like this … from making an outright lie that they then use to sell what’s a pretty expensive product,” Beshear said at a state Capitol news conference.

Kentucky’s suit continues the fallout against Volkswagen since its admission last year that nearly 600,000 cars were sold in the U.S. with software that regulators say was designed to cheat on required emissions tests.

Beshear said Volkswagen must be held accountable for false promotion of its vehicles in Kentucky.