GM’s hit and run: How a lawyer, mechanic, and engineer blew open the worst auto scandal in history – Pando

GM Recall Lawyer - The Cooper Firm

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.”

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8 Comments

  1. […] government. The unanimous decision came after two large auto safety crises in 2014: the defective GM ignition switch and the faulty and explosive Takata […]

  2. […] GM led the way, recalling about 30 million cars.   Those recalls grew out of our case, the Brooke Melton case, which itself was the result of GM missing, ignoring, and/or hiding proof of defect and internal […]

  3. […] year for failing to spot the defect and hold GM accountable sooner. As a result, there have been 109 deaths tied to the defect and hundreds of people injured. Over 30 million vehicles have been recalled and a compensation fund was established by GM to help […]

  4. […] notices regarding the 2014 model year vehicles, which is more than the 25 the agency received for Chevrolet vehicles. Although the Mercedes-Benz recall defect has not resulted in as many injuries or deaths as General […]

  5. […] sport mode and are hitting the start-stop button. The start-stop button is adjacent to sport mode. General Motors faced a similar struggle this year with cars accidentally shutting off due to a fault… There were 42 deaths related to the ignition switch […]

  6. […] the past year, there have been recalls for defective GM  ignition switches linked to 124 deaths, exploding Takata airbags linked to at least 8 deaths and hundreds of injures, and dozens of other […]

  7. […] recall work. AutoNation will also not judge which recalls are important and will treat a defective ignition switch the same as an incorrect owner’s […]

  8. […] recent action by NHTSA, traceable directly to the work done in our case, Melton v. GM, might help change things and brighten the landscape. More specifically, NHTSA has issued a call […]

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