Judge Clears First GM Ignition Switch Trial to Proceed

The first “bellwether” lawsuit over defective General Motors Co. ignition switches has been ruled worthy to proceed to trial next week.

U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman rejected GM’s motion to dismiss the complaint. The case involves airbags in a 2003 model Saturn Ion sedan that failed to inflate when the car was forced off the road and crashed into two trees.

The driver contends the car’s ignition switch was jogged out of the “run” position, thereby turning off the engine and deactivating the airbags.

GM acknowledged the issue when it belatedly recalled 2.6 million vehicles—including the plaintiff’s Ion—in early 2014 to replace their ignition switches. But it contends the airbag failure in the Ion crash was unrelated to the car’s switch, according to Reuters.

GM also agreed last year to pay $594 million in compensation involving 124 deaths and 275 injuries linked to the switches. Five other bellwether cases, which liability lawyers will use to determine whether to litigate or settle claims, are expected to go to court later this year.

Furman has been overseeing 130 recall-related lawsuits against GM since the cases were consolidated in his court in mid-2014. Many of the complaints relate to GM’s belated recall early that year of 2.6 million cars with the defective switches. Other lawsuits involve GM’s subsequent campaigns to call back some 20 million more vehicles to fix a wide variety of other safety issues.