Feds Fine GM Over Ignition Switch Row

One of the last remaining government product liability investigations ended when the automaker agreed to pay a $1 million fine to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the SEC, General Motors ignored a critical ignition switch flaw for at least ten years, leading to more than 120 deaths and 270 serious injuries in Saturn Ions, Chevrolet Cobalts, and several other model cars that had ignitions prone to sudden shutdown during operation. Specifically, GM engineers failed to promptly inform company accountants of the significant product liability risk, and that is a violation of SEC rules.

21 December

0 Comments

Sticky

GM Takes Ignition Switch Fight To High Court

Posted by Gary Logsdon Law

in Defective Products

The automaker, which has already paid more than $870 million in out-of-court settlements related to defective ignition switches, wants the Supreme Court to overturn a defective products verdict from a lower appeals court.

Previously, General Motors argued that the “old GM” was liable for damages, and once the company emerged from bankruptcy in 2009, the “new GM” was a different company and therefore not responsible for previous acts of negligence. However, appeals court judges did not agree, instead ruling that the “new GM” was not substantially different from the “old GM” and company executives knew about the defective products. Undaunted, GM maintains that bankruptcy laws allowed it to shed previous liabilities, and that includes negligence lawsuits.

Unless the Supreme Court overturns the lower court’s verdict, roughly 130 cases will continue to move forward through the system.

GM Ignition Switch Tag

Feds Fine GM Over Ignition Switch Row

GM Takes Ignition Switch Fight To High Court