The judge overseeing a massive class action suit stemming from the Volkswagen emissions scandal has postponed the next scheduled hearing, the San Francisco-based court announced Tuesday, according to dpa. Judge Charles Breyer will hold the next status conference on the matter next Tuesday (May 24) instead of the original date set for Thursday (May 19). The reason for the postponement was not given. The class action complaint bundles together more than 500 civil lawsuits filed by consumers and US states after the German carmaker admitted last September that many of its diesel cars had been modified to cheat emission tests. The company faces allegations of fraud and breach of contract. The US Justice Department is also weighing possible fines amounting to billions of dollars for violating US environmental laws. In April VW and US officials reached a compromise on a settlement to compensate US owners of the diesel cars that were intentionally built with software designed to cheat US emissions testing. The agreement, which requires VW to buy back or fix some 500,000 affected cars, plus pay substantial damages to consumers in the United States.
