Ignition lawsuit that spurred GM recalls to continue

[unhappycamper]

http://hamptonroads.com/2014/08/ignition-lawsuit-spurred-gm-recalls-continue

Ignition lawsuit that spurred GM recalls to continue
By Steve Higgins and Margaret Cronin Fisk | Bloomberg News

© August 10, 2014

MARIETTA, Ga.

General Motors failed to convince a Georgia judge to dismiss a lawsuit over the death of a 29- year-old woman that helped trigger the recall of 2.59 million cars over faulty ignition switches.

~snip~

"GM has more to fear going before jurors than going before Congress and federal regulators who have done little more than put executives though a few difficult hours of questioning," he said in an email. "Juries, hearing evidence about GM's stifling its employees who were worried about the ignition switch, are likely to punish GM with huge damage awards."

The ignition-switch recall began in February and expanded to about 2.59 million cars, including the Cobalt and Saturn Ion. Following the Cobalt recall, the largest U.S. automaker stepped up its review of potential safety issues and recalled about 29 million vehicles in North America this year, a record.

GM faces more than 100 lawsuits claiming loss of vehicle value caused by the recalls. They are combined in a multidistrict litigation, or MDL, in federal court in New York before U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman. More than 30 suits have been filed in the U.S. and Canada claiming deaths and injuries connected to switch recalls. Many of these have been transferred to the MDL.