As customers of General Motors Co move to have their ignition-defect cases be tried by a judge who has earlier experience with similar litigation on auto defects, the Detroit-based automaker is reportedly seeking to have all its cases handled by a judge in New York, who would be working along with a bankruptcy judge who have handled GM's 2009 reorganization, Bloomberg reported.
After meeting with a top executive at General Motors Co, Barclays analyst Brian Johnson hinted in a note that there might be several more recalls into the middle of the summer months, Bloomberg reported.
Bloomberg reported that a panel of judges at the Texas Supreme Court approved General Motors Co and Delphi Automative Systems LLC's emergency request to stop the proceedings of four complaints lodged by customers over the automaker's faulty ignition.
Lawyer Lance Cooper on behalf of the remaining family of Brooke Melton, who died in a car crash linked to the defective ignition switch, has filed a new complaint urging a judge to revive a settled case, claiming that General Motors Co allegedly withheld information about the recall, Bloomberg said.
On Saturday, General Motors Co announced that it will also be recalling 51,640 SUVs due to its faulty fuel gauges that could expose its customers to a crash, CNN said.
Kenneth Feinberg had confirmed in an interview with The Associated Press that he had already talked to a lawyer who represented victims of the ignition defect of some of General Motors Co's small cars.
The California plaintiffs of a lawsuit has reportedly told a judge that General Motors Co's bid to freeze all claims due to an ignition defect found on its small cars under Chapter 11 bankruptcy law is irrelevant and a red herring to the real issue.
In a landmark decision, US District Court Judge Shira Scheindlin ruled that US multinational companies may be held liable for human rights atrocities committed overseas in a lawsuit filed in the United States.
Bloomberg said that the 2009 order of US Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber, who presided over the Chapter 11 reorganization of General Motors Co, prohibits the automaker from settling claims for damages of its predecessor's liabilities.
A bankruptcy lawyer said that the judge who has handled General Motors CO's 2009 Chapter 11 case will need to determine whether the automaker was aware of the defects in its small cars prior to filing for bankruptcy before deeming that the "new" GM is liable to the 37 lawsuits filed against the company regarding the vehicle recall.
Documents recently released by a House panel on the General Motors Co recall indicated that the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration did not order a formal probe upon suggestion by an investigator due to inadequate evidence to launch such review, Bloomberg said.
US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Chief Counsel O. Kevin Vincent had said that General Motors Co has yet to comply with its March 4 order to answer questions on why it waited a long time to issue a vehicle recall despite consumer complaints and engineering concerns, Bloomberg reported.
