By Jeff Bennett and Mike Spector
General Motors Co. Chief Executive Mary Barra will be deposed in
October by lawyers representing consumers suing the auto maker over
defective ignition switches equipped on millions of recalled
vehicles.
Ms. Barra will testify under oath in the deposition Oct. 8, one
of the lawyers, Bob Hilliard, and a GM spokesman said.
Other current and former GM employees are expected to be deposed
as part of the so-called multidistrict litigation, with the first
legal examinations kicking off in May. Alicia Boler-Davis, a senior
vice president overseeing vehicle connectivity, will sit for a
deposition May 6.
The depositions are being taken as part of purported
class-action suits consolidated in a federal-district court in New
York. The depositions will be coordinated with lawyers pursuing
various state legal actions against GM, the company spokesman
said.
The depositions underscore the legal challenges that remain for
the largest U.S. auto maker as it tries to move on from a recall
crisis that consumed Ms. Barra's first year as chief executive.
In addition to litigation, the auto maker faces a probe by the
U.S. Justice Department that could result in a hefty fine. GM also
awaits a decision from a federal bankruptcy judge on whether it can
retain a legal shield blocking claims from certain other aggrieved
customers over the switch. Some of those say they suffered
declining resale values on their vehicles as a result of the
recalls.
An investigation by outside lawyer Anton Valukas found GM knew
for more than a decade about the problematic ignition switch before
finally recalling roughly 2.6 million older cars in early 2014. The
switch can slip into the "accessory" position, cutting power to
safety features including air bags. Kenneth Feinberg, an outside
lawyer running a victims compensation fund for GM, has so far tied
67 deaths to the safety defect.
The coming depositions precede a trial in the consolidated
lawsuits against GM in New York that is set for January.
"This will be the first time GM employees in a court of law will
be made to answer difficult questions under oath about the specific
details of the documents and their role in these deaths and
injuries," Mr. Hilliard, who is representing hundreds of victims in
those cases, said in an interview on Thursday.
Ms. Barra has made multiple trips to Capitol Hill and testified
under oath before lawmakers. In that testimony, Ms. Barra said she
and her executive team weren't aware of the ignition-switch problem
until early January 2014. A recall was issued shortly
thereafter.
GM last week settled all litigation with the family of a Georgia
woman whose death helped set off the company's recall crisis.
Including an accepted claim from GM's compensation fund, the
parents of Brooke Melton will receive more than $5 million from the
auto maker. Ms. Melton, 29 years old, died in March 2010 when the
ignition switch on her 2005 Cobalt slipped into the accessory
position, casting her car to skid into another vehicle and roll
into a creek.
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