Robert Mueller has been enlisted by US District Judge Charles Breyer to officiate the ongoing case of Volkswagen. Breyer appointed Mueller, a former FBI chief, to help the car manufacturer reach a settlement with affected car owners who sued the company for cheating on its emission-testing software.
According to Bloomberg, Breyer said that he’s giving the lawyers of both car owners and VW until Friday to give their response on his planned recruitment on Mueller as “special master” on the case.
Meanwhile, the publication learned that Mueller has agreed to become the mediator amidst the negotiations of the case which merged into 500 consumer lawsuits over the past months.
“There is an urgent need to determine if all or some of the pending matters can be resolved by the parties sooner rather than later,” Judge Charles Breyer said in a statement released by the Wall Street Journal.
“There are few, if any, people with more integrity, good judgment, and relevant experience than Mr. Mueller,” Breyer continued.
In the past, Mueller also served as US attorney in the Northern District of California. Conveniently, it’s the same location where the VW litigation takes place.
Per The Guardian, it was on September 2015 when more than 400 cars made by VW was asked to be recalled in the US after the company was caught using deceptive emissions test softwares. The discovery immediately caught the attention of the media when it was revealed that VW allow its vehicles to produce “40 times more pollution” than the legal limit.
Later, the German manufacturer ordered an external investigation which also lead to their then CEO apologizing for the emissions cheating scandal.
At present, a rep of Mueller said that he “appreciates” being appointed for the case. But for now, he chooses to give no further comments.
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