GM Engineer Talks to Investigators
Suspended Employee Met With Congressional Probers on His Role in Deadly Ignition-Switch Design
By JEFF BENNETT And SIOBHAN HUGHES
One of the General Motors Co. engineers at the center of the controversy over the company’s handling of a deadly ignition switch defect has met with congressional investigators, indicating lawmakers are accelerating their probe, according to people familiar with the matter.
Raymond DeGiorgio, who was suspended last month with pay, traveled to Capitol Hill to talk about his role in a design change to ignition switches installed in 2.6 million GM compact cars that the company recalled earlier this year, two people who know of the meetings said Wednesday. The ignition switches can slip out of the run position, causing the cars to stall, and lose power to steering and airbags. GM has linked 13 fatalities to the defect. Plaintiffs’ lawyers say the death toll is higher.