By Mike Spector
A former General Motors Co. engineer who worked with faulty
ignition switches tied to millions of recalled vehicles and more
than 100 deaths is set to be questioned in June by lawyers
representing consumers suing the auto maker over the safety defect,
said people familiar with the matter.
Raymond DeGiorgio, one of 15 employees who GM dismissed over the
company's failure for more than a decade to recall vehicles with
the defective switches, is scheduled to be deposed on June 18 and
June 19 in Detroit, the people said.
Mr. DeGiorgio featured prominently in a report commissioned by
GM and written by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas that found the
auto maker failed for 11 years to recall millions of older
Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars equipped with an ignition
switch prone to slipping out of the run position. The problem can
result in disabling safety features including air bags, power
steering and power brakes.
Mr. DeGiorgio couldn't be reached for comment. A GM spokesman
said: "Depositions and other pre-trial activity are taking place
and there aren't any developments in the case that require an
explanation or comment at this time."
GM recalled roughly 2.6 million vehicles equipped with the
switch in early 2014 and set up a victims compensation fund
administered by outside lawyer Kenneth Feinberg that so far has
linked the defect to 107 deaths and 199 injuries.
Mr. DeGiorgio is one of at least three dozen current and former
GM employees, including Chief Executive Mary Barra, who are set to
be deposed or have already been questioned as part of a set of
lawsuits consolidated in federal district court in New York. Mr.
DeGiorgio's deposition dates weren't yet on a schedule that Bob
Hilliard, a Texas lawyer representing consumers suing GM, disclosed
in March.
Mr. DeGiorgio approved putting the switch into production with a
deviation from GM's specifications, then later green-lighted
changing the design without formally telling anyone, according to
Mr. Valukas's report. He didn't assign a new part number to the
switch, which might have alerted GM to the problem, the report
said. The new design increased the torque required to turn the key,
alleviating the defect.
Mr. Valukas's report also cited lawyers who failed to raise
alarms about the ignition switch even as they settled cases where
air bags didn't deploy. Some of the lawyers were among those GM
dismissed in 2014 after Mr. Valukas's report was released.
Ms. Barra's deposition in the consolidated lawsuits, known as
multi-district litigation, is scheduled for Oct. 8. Ms. Barra last
year bemoaned a "pattern of incompetence and neglect" at the
company outlined in Mr. Valukas's report on the ignition-switch
matter.
The depositions of Mr. DeGiorgio and other current and former GM
employees come amid a separate U.S. Justice Department probe of the
auto maker expected to result in a finding of criminal wrongdoing
and a hefty fine exceeding $1 billion.
GM last year paid a record $35 million civil fine for failing to
alert U.S. auto-safety regulators to the ignition-switch defect in
a timely manner as required under federal law.
An April 2013 deposition of Mr. DeGiorgio in a Georgia wrongful
death case helped set of the ensuing recall crisis at GM. In that
deposition, Mr. DeGiorgio said he was unaware of the ignition
switch's design being changed to increase its torque.
Write to Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com
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