{"id":16859,"date":"2018-01-22T09:48:38","date_gmt":"2018-01-22T14:48:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.terrybryant.com\/?p=16859"},"modified":"2025-03-11T10:51:17","modified_gmt":"2025-03-11T15:51:17","slug":"latest-chapter-gm-ignition-switch-lawsuit-saga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.terrybryant.com\/blogs\/gm-ignition-switch-lawsuit","title":{"rendered":"The Latest Chapter in the GM Ignition Switch Lawsuit Saga"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tDetroit automaker General Motors Co. (GM) on December 28, 2017, won a court ruling that could significantly impact, and even reduce the value of, certain civil claims currently against it over flawed vehicle ignition switches. The switches have been linked to more than 120 deaths and many injuries and triggered a huge recall<\/a>.<\/p>

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U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan ruled that the plaintiffs in two bellwether cases of the Multi-District Litigation (MDL) which surrounds injuries involving airbags<\/a> in GM vehicles could not introduce expert testimony to show how the company\u2019s defective ignition switches might have played a role in those crashes. Plaintiffs claimed their GM ignition switches might have rotated from \u201crun\u201d at the moment of impact to \u201caccessory\u201d or \u201coff\u201d \u2013 which either caused the accidents or made them worse \u2013 and then slipped back into the \u201crun\u201d position before the airbags deployed.<\/p>\n

But Furman, who oversees the MDL that deals with the automaker\u2019s ignition switches called the expert testimony \u201cunreliable\u201d because there was no evidence that \u201cdouble switch rotation\u201d occurred anywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe court recognizes that these conclusions may have a significant impact on a swath of cases now pending in the MDL and, thus, does not view them lightly,\u201d the judge wrote. Furman also said in his ruling that his role is \u201cto ensure the reliability and relevancy of expert testimony,\u201d and that the opinions of the plaintiffs\u2019 experts \u201cdo not pass muster.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesman for Detroit-based GM, said the decision \u201creinforces our approach to contest cases that lack merit, while being open to fair resolution of cases that have [greater] merit according to the facts and the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

GM has paid more than $2.6 billion in ignition-based penalties and settlements. This includes a $900 million settlement in October 2017 over a U.S. Department of Justice criminal case, surrounding ignition switches that purportedly caused engines to stall and prevented airbags from deploying as passenger protection in case of an accident.<\/p>\n

The largest U.S. automaker has recalled more than 2.6 million vehicles over the defect since February 2014. In addition to the 124 deaths, 275 were injured in small cars such as the Chevrolet\u2019s Cobalt and Saturn\u2019s Ion. The defective ignition switches could cause vehicles to stall, and GM recalled more than 2.7 million vehicles beginning in 2014.<\/p>\n

As of November 30, 2017, 1,723 personal injury and wrongful death claims<\/a> in the multi-district litigation remain unresolved, including 213 claims that airbags experienced deployment problems, according to court filings. GM has also settled more than 1,700 claims.<\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s decision also dismissed claims by:<\/strong><\/p>\n