GM’s hit and run: How a lawyer, mechanic, and engineer blew open the worst auto scandal in history – Pando
By: Adam Penenberg
“Now that attorney Lance Cooper knew what to look for, he filed a revised complaint almost three years to the day after Brooke Melton died. He accused GM of negligence in designing, testing, and manufacturing, as well as failing to warn consumers. Months earlier, Cooper had begun papering the auto company’s attorneys with requests for information on ignition switches, including any and all lawsuits and documents relating to the modified key in the service advisory. GM responded in January 2013 with a heap of material but objected to several discovery requests, such as drawings of the original switch and any revisions, until a judge ordered the carmaker to hand over “all responsive documents and materials.”
Cooper targeted 15 engineers to question, and their answers helped him fill in key pieces of the puzzle. In one deposition, GM’s head switch engineer on the Cobalt, Raymond DeGiorgio, admitted that he recognized differences between the original and replacement switches but couldn’t explain why it had been changed without GM or Delphi, the parts maker, modifying the identification number. In further testimony, Cooper learned of a GM engineer who had experienced the ignition shutdown problem during a test drive in 2004. Shortly after, in 2005, GM’s own engineers concluded there was a problem with the switch.”