After hearing arguments this week, the court affirmed a judge's ruling from last summer.
The judge said the plaintiffs failed to satisfy a requirement that a shareholder suing on behalf of a company and seeking to hold top officials accountable must first demand that the board take action itself, or demonstrate why such a demand would be futile.
The faulty switches have been blamed for scores of deaths and injuries. GM knew about them for more than a decade but didn't recall them until early 2014.
