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Judge Bars Access to GM Ignition Switch Interviews
A federal judge in New York City has ruled that consumers suing General Motors Co. cannot have access to interviews collected during a probe of GM's handling of last year's recall of 2.6 million defective ignition switches.
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A federal judge in New York City has ruled that consumers suing General Motors Co. cannot have access to interviews collected during a probe of GM's handling of last year's recall of 2.6 million defective ignition switches.
But the judge did order GM to turn over the names of all witnesses not cited in the resulting report, so plaintiffs' attorneys can conduct their own interviews.
Owners of the recalled cars are seeking as much as $10 billion in economic compensation for the loss of resale value for their vehicles. A separate bankruptcy judge has not yet ruled on whether "new" GM is liable for the faults of pre-bankruptcy "old" GM.
The report last year by investigator Anton Valukas found numerous procedural failures that resulted in a 10-year delay GM's decision to recall the switches. The devices can unexpectedly turn off the engine, thereby cutting power to the steering, brakes and airbag systems.
A GM compensation fund has since identified 45 fatalities and seven catastrophic injuries related to the defective switches.
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