German state of Bavaria to sue Volkswagen over emissions scandal

Bavaria's state pension fund for civil servants lost as much as 700,000 euros after Volkswagen shares plunged

Germany's state of Bavaria will sue Volkswagen for damages caused by the diesel emissions scandal, the state's finance ministry said on Tuesday, adding to the carmaker's litigation risks.

Bavaria's state pension fund for civil servants lost as much as 700,000 euros ($783,580.00) after Volkswagen (VW) shares plunged in the wake of the September 18 announcement of the carmaker's manipulations by US regulators, a spokeswoman at the ministry said.

Bavaria, home to German blue-chip companies including BMW, Siemens and Allianz, would be the first of Germany's 16 federal states to take legal action against VW over the scandal.

Deutsche Presse Agentur (DPA), which reported the lawsuit earlier on Tuesday, said the state-owned pension fund will file its suit against VW in September at the regional court of Braunschweig near VW's Wolfsburg headquarters.

 

VW declined comment.