A federal judge in San Francisco is expected to rule on the Volkswagen diesel settlement case on Tuesday, Oct. 25. The following transportation, business and legal experts from the University of California, Davis, will be available to discuss with media various aspects of the ruling and its potential impact.

Impact on electric vehicle market

Gil Tal is a professional researcher with the Plug-in Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Research Center of the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies. He can discuss how the settlement, which requires VW to invest roughly $2 billion nationwide ($800 million in California) in electric vehicle, or EV, infrastructure and market development, can benefit the global transition to cleaner vehicles. Tal’s research examines the future need for EV charging infrastructure and its correlation to EV driving and charging behavior, and to consumer demand for EVs. He is currently leading a multistate study of new plug-in vehicle buyers. Contact: gtal@ucdavis.edu

Game changer? Impact on financial markets

Paul Griffin is a professor with the UC Davis Graduate School of Management. His recent research reveals that the flow of news about the VW diesel emission cheating scandal was so powerful and sustained that it fundamentally changed the way the financial markets operate. Griffin is a leading international authority in accounting, financial information and disclosures. He has advised the Securities and Exchange Commission on several fronts, including rules on disclosure of sensitive foreign payments, use of conflict minerals, and proposed rules on climate change disclosures by energy companies. His recent research in accounting and auditing focuses on audit fee behavior, corporate governance and stock option compensation. Contact: pagriffin@ucdavis.edu

Ethics and corporate culture 

Donald Palmer, a professor with the UC Davis Graduate School of Management, has written about VW’s corporate culture and the role it played in the company’s fraudulent behavior. (“Was Volkswagen Culture to Blame for Its Engineering Fraud?”) He is the author of the book, Normal Organizational Wrongdoing: A Critical Analysis of Theories of Misconduct in and by Organizations. Palmer’s research is in the area of corporate crime, ethics and social responsibility. He examines why otherwise law-abiding, ethical and socially responsible people participate in wrongful courses of behavior; in particular, why such individuals join wrongful courses of action that are initiated by others. Contact: dapalmer@ucdavis.edu

Class action litigation

Kevin Johnson, dean of the UC Davis School of Law can speak about complex and class action litigation, and civil procedure. Johnson is also a professor of public interest law and of Chicana/o studies. Contact: Kevin Johnson, krjohnson@ucdavis.edu