GM victim-compensation plan expected soon

The New York Times examines the ongoing scandal over faulty ignition switches at General Motors, noting that the company has already recalled 2.6 million cars and is facing a wave of lawsuits and settlements over possible deaths and injuries related to the malfunctions. The Times says that Kenneth R. Feinberg, the victim-compensation expert hired by GM, “is nearing the final stages of an elaborate process to determine who is eligible for payments and for how much.” The plan is expected to be made public in the next two weeks and “is seen as critical to the company’s ability to move beyond an issue that has prompted numerous investigations, congressional hearings, a $35 million federal penalty and withering public criticism.”

We believe that obtaining legal satisfaction from those who harmed you shouldn’t require more hardship. That’s why we do everything we can to streamline the process, and we will file a lawsuit on your behalf if necessary. If you or a loved one has been affected by this recall, and you believe it caused an injury, contact Chhabra & Gibbs today by going to www.cglawms.com or by calling this number: 601-948-8005.

GM CEO under fire as new evidence of ignored warnings surfaces

ABC World News reported GM CEO Mary Barra was “back in the hot seat” on Wednesday “over those faulty ignition switches.” Barra is “vowing to change the culture inside GM to make sure this never happens again.”

The CBS Evening News reported that Barra “was back before Congress today for another grilling about that ignition switch defect that is linked to 13 deaths and why it took the company a decade to recall millions of cars.” CBS added that on Wednesday at the hearing “it was revealed that a company employee sent this email in 2005 about a stalling Impala – ‘I think this is a serious safety problem. I’m thinking big recall. I don’t like to imagine a customer driving with their kids in the back seat.’”

The New York Times reports that Barra “came under renewed attack” on Wednesday during an appearance before a House. Lawmakers “were not satisfied with the company’s investigation into its delayed recall of millions of cars and challenged her on whether its most recent recalls should have been made earlier.” For example, House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton “produced a string of internal emails from 2005 that showed that one G.M. employee had experienced a stalling problem in a Chevrolet Impala.” However, that model “was not recalled until this week.” Barra “testified that she did not believe that recalls were routinely avoided in the past.”

The Wall Street Journal focuses on the email from the employee, Laura J. Andres, who told GM engineers that her Chevy Impala shut off after she hit a bump in the road, and said that the issue appeared to be linked to an ignition problem.

Lawsuit seeks $10 billion in compensation for all GM owners

Citing a report from Reuters, USA Today says that a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Federal court is seeking compensation for “all owners of late-model GM vehicles” because the safety issues surrounding the company have damaged the brand and diminished the value of the cars. The lawsuit is seeking class-action status for all those who bought or leased GM vehicles between July 10, 2009 and April 1, 2014; the suit claims that the vehicles have lost between $500 and $2,600 in resale value, for a total of over $10 billion.

In its coverage, TIME notes that the lawsuit is “the first legal claim that GM owes customers some compensation for damaging its brand and reputation.”

Case of ignored GM whistleblower examined

In a more than 3,800-word article, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports on how GM retaliated against inspector Courtland Kelley after he insistently voiced concerns over safety issues. BusinessWeek details Kelley’s investigations through his years at GM, his threats to take his concerns to the NHTSA, his tribulations within the company, and unsuccessful lawsuit, highlighting the effect it had on discouraging whistle-blowers.

We believe that obtaining legal satisfaction from those who harmed you shouldn’t require more hardship. That’s why we do everything we can to streamline the process, and we will file a lawsuit on your behalf if necessary. If you or a loved one has been affected by this recall, and you believe it caused an injury, contact Chhabra & Gibbs today by going to www.cglawms.com or by calling this number: 601-948-8005.

Mississippi Files Suit against Credit Reporting Company

The state of Mississippi has filed a lawsuit against Experian, the world's largest credit-reporting firm, alleging that the company made numerous data errors and violated consumer protection laws. The lawsuit was filed last month in a Biloxi state courthouse and transferred to Mississippi federal court late last week. The state accuses the company of jeopardizing their customer's ability to get loans and pass job-related background checks because of the data errors. The credit reporting industry is currently under investigation by 32 states. 

GM expands recalls to cover half a million Camaros

The CBS Evening News broadcast that General Motors added “more than half a million Camaros” to the list of its recalled vehicles a few days ago, bringing the total number of recalls this year by GM to 38. CBS News correspondent Jim Axelrod points out, “the recall is for this remote key and lock combination,” which GM says can be switched “out of the run position” by “a driver’s knee.” The broadcast also notes that GM CEO Mary Barra is returning to Washington to appear before Congress “next week,” where Barra “can expect to be grilled for why GM took more than a decade to issue those recall orders on the Cobalt.”

The New York Times reports that this latest recall is connected to “a problem similar to the defect that led the automaker to recall millions of small cars this year.” NHTSA has taken in over 210 complaints related to the Camaros, clarifying in a statement that “the Camaro ignition system meets all G.M. engineering specifications and is unrelated to the ignition system used in Chevrolet Cobalts and other small cars included in the ignition switch recall.” Still, former senior enforcement lawyer for NHTSA Allan Kam comments that “it’s as if they are clearing out a backlog of old safety problems.”

Bloomberg News reports that GM Vice President of Global Safety Jeff Boyer said, “Discovering and acting on this issue quickly is an example of the new norm for product safety at GM.” NHTSA data show that the total number of vehicles recalled by GM in 2014 is higher than the 10.7 million vehicles it recalled in 2004.

The Wall Street Journal reports that GM knows about three Camaro crashes in which the ignition switch defect may have been a factor, with those crashes leading to four injuries.

Reuters points out that NHTSA has yet to post the official recall notice for Camaros, although the agency released some consumer complaints. The article further notes that NHTSA gave the 2012-2014 Camaro a five-star safety rating, which was the best score the car had ever received. Reuters reports in a separate article that NHTSA records show that safety officials were receiving complaints about the Camaros related to the ignition problem as far back as 2009.

The AP reports that “GM also announced three other recalls on Friday,” which pushed the number of vehicles recalled by GM this year “to about 14.4 million in the U.S. and 16.5 million in North America.” The AP also reports in a separate story.

The Los Angeles Times reports that GM is proposing to “fix the problem by changing the Camarao key to a standard design from one in which the key is concealed in the fob and is opened by pushing a button.”

Federal officials begin interviewing GM employees on recalls. Reuters reports that US Attorney Preet Bharara’s office has started the interview process for current and former GM employees, which is for the criminal investigation into GM’s ignition-switch defects.

The Wall Street Journal also reports on the Federal investigation, further noting that certain state attorneys general are also investigating why it took GM so long to recall its defective vehicles. The article also mentions that the Justice Department has faced criticism over the way it charges companies with crimes without also indicting any individuals or executives.

TIME analysis: GM ignition switch failure report highlights problem of “information silos.” In a TIME analytical article, Rana Foroohar says the General Motors report on the ignition switch failures of some models, “which resulted in numerous deaths and millions of recalled vehicles,” also “illuminates a systemic problem in most big corporations as well as governments – insular management or, in the parlance of gurus, information silos.” The report found GM’s departments failed to communicate about the ignition switch issues, a problem reinforced by an unaccountable corporate culture. Foroohar notes the problem of information silos extends across corporate, government, and military organizations. Large, complicated companies are “typically structured so that decision making is separated according to function, geography and product,” and the problem is “becoming only more pressing as the world becomes more interconnected.”

We believe that obtaining legal satisfaction from those who harmed you shouldn't require more hardship. That’s why we do everything we can to streamline the process, and we will file a lawsuit on your behalf if necessary. If you or a loved one has been affected by this recall, and you believe it caused an injury, contact Chhabra & Gibbs today by going to www.cglawms.com or by calling this number: 601-948-8005.

Attorneys say GM seeks bankruptcy shield from lawsuit

The AP reports from Detroit that attorneys for a Georgia family “that is trying to reopen a wrongful death lawsuit against General Motors say the company is trying to move the case to federal court so it can use bankruptcy as a shield from the claim.” Attorneys Lance Cooper and Jere Beasley said on Wednesday in a statement “that GM’s court filings run counter to a promise made by GM CEO Mary Barra to fairly compensate families of people killed or those injured in crashes caused by defective ignition switches.” The AP notes that a Federal bankruptcy judge in New York ruled in 2009 “that the new GM is shielded from claims stemming from cars made before the company emerged from bankruptcy protection,” and instead, “the claims go against the old GM, which has limited assets.” The judge “now is being asked to decide if he will allow claims against the new company.”

Nine states investigating GM recall delay

 In continuing coverage of GM’s faulty ignition switches that led to at least 13 deaths, Bloomberg News reports that the attorney generals in Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Utah are investigating GM for its failure to launch a recall before this year. Bloomberg reports that the attorney generals include members of both parties, with Democrats in Arkansas, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, and Kentucky and Republicans in Florida, Indiana, and Utah. Maine Attorney General Jim Tierney, the director of the National State Attorneys General Program said the “attorney generals investigating GM are concerned with addressing constituent concerns about whether their cars will be recalled and allaying those anxieties, he said. The attorney generals also want to see unsafe cars taken off the road.”

A second article on Bloomberg News reports that GM said that a lawsuit concerning a fatal 2010 crash filed in a Georgia state courthouse should be included in a group of 90 cases that have been assigned to a Federal judge in Manhattan. Lawyer Jere Beasley said that GM’s attempt to relocate the case was “a frivolous move calculated to delay.”

We believe that obtaining legal satisfaction from those who harmed you shouldn’t require more hardship. That’s why we do everything we can to streamline the process, and we will file a lawsuit on your behalf if necessary. If you or a loved one has been affected by this recall, and you believe it caused an injury, contact Chhabra & Gibbs today by going to www.cglawms.com or by calling this number: 601-948-8005.

New York Judge to Hear Lawsuits Against GM

Southern District Judge Jesse Furman will hear lawsuits alleging that General Motors cars lost value because of ignition switch recalls.

The U.S. Judicial Panel for Multidistrict Litigation, sitting in Chicago, made the decision Monday to move the case to New York City. The panel said it knows of 74 related lawsuits in 31 federal courts.

The lawsuits allege that the older small cars dropped in value after the ignition switch recalls were announced starting in February. GM has admitted knowing about the problem for at least a decade before the recalls. Last week, the company said it had let go of at least four members of its in-house legal staff and two directors in the wake of the revelations.

In an order, the panel said that all parties agreed the cases should be centralized but disagreed on where. It opted for the Southern District as the best place because GM's 2009 bankruptcy case was handled there. Furman handled appeals and is familiar with the GM case, the panel noted.

"Judge Furman is an experienced transferee judge with the ability to handle these complex proceedings expeditiously," it said.

Meanwhile, GM has asked Southern District Judge Robert Gerber to declare it immune from the lawsuits by virtue of its bankruptcy settlement.

We believe that obtaining legal satisfaction from those who harmed you shouldn’t require more hardship. That’s why we do everything we can to streamline the process, and we will file a lawsuit on your behalf if necessary. If you or a loved one has been affected by this recall, and you believe it caused an injury, contact Chhabra & Gibbs today by going to www.cglawms.com or by calling this number: 601-948-8005.

Center for Auto Safety requests that Federal judge force GM to turn over confidential documents

Bloomberg News reports that General Motors has requested that a Federal judge not hand over “confidential information related to its 2009 government rescue” to the Center for Auto Safety, which is “researching the ignition-switch defect” in GM cars tied to the massive, “2.59 million”-vehicle recall this year. In the words of the Center for Auto Safety’s court filings, submitted yesterday in Washington, “GM has an interest in protecting its confidential information that obviously diverges from the center’s interest in disclosure, and that also diverges from Treasury’s interest in responding to the center’s request.” Moreover, the safety center’s President Clarence Ditlow alleges that GM tried to hide the potentially fatal ignition-switch defect for more than a decade, meaning the company never acknowledged the problem to a Federal bankruptcy court when it received millions in taxpayer-funded bailouts as well as protection from future lawsuits.

Report expected soon. The Wall Street Journal reports on the awaited report about GM’s defective ignition-switch from former US Attorney Anton Valukas. The company has said that it is awaiting the report before taking any further action. The article highlights a number of questions that the report may address including who made a number of decisions regarding the switch and why action was not taken to address the problem at various earlier moments when problems became apparent.

We believe that obtaining legal satisfaction from those who harmed you shouldn’t require more hardship. That’s why we do everything we can to streamline the process, and we will file a lawsuit on your behalf if necessary. If you or a loved one has been affected by this recall, and you believe it caused an injury, contact Chhabra & Gibbs today by going to www.cglawms.com or by calling this number: 601-948-8005.