Shields up for automaker

General Motors says it takes responsibility for a faulty ignition switch problem linked to at least 13 deaths, but was in court this week asking a judge to protect the automaker from other responsibilities.
GM attorneys asked a federal bankruptcy judge to dismiss dozens of lawsuits over the defective switch in millions of its cars, and to bar similar cases in the future.
Specifically, the court is being asked to reaffirm the company's 2009 restructuring agreement that shielded the "new" company from liability for incidents that took place before July 10, 2009, the day the agreement went into effect.
As luck would have it for GM, most of the cars in the recall were made before 2009.
According to its court filing, GM faces 54 lawsuits filed since last February, all but two of them seeking class-action status. They all claim economic damages for such things as a lower car value or missing work while the ignition was repaired.
Certainly it would not be unreasonable to question the validity of the shield GM claims it has under the bankruptcy agreement especially given the fact that the automaker knew about the faulty ignition switches years before being forced to recall millions of vehicles. It would not be unreasonable to argue that GM should have made the potential liabilities known to the bankruptcy judge. Failing to do so was either an astounding oversight or fraud. Whatever the case, why should GM be able to claim protection?
Obviously, GM doesn't want to pay for those claims or even face the expense of dealing with them. The company has said both publicly and in its latest court filing that it is not asking for a dismissal of personal injury lawsuits.
“General Motors has taken responsibility for its actions and will keep doing so,” GM said in a statement released after filing court papers seeking to escape some of its responsibility. “G.M. has also acknowledged that it has civic and legal obligations relating to injuries that may relate to recalled vehicles, and it has retained Kenneth Feinberg to advise the company what options may be available to deal with those obligations.”
All of this stems from GM's initial determination that it was cheaper to deal with the potential lawsuits than recall the vehicles and replace a 57-cent spring. One would have thought with $49.5 billion in taxpayer bailout money, the company could have come up with a solution that was less deadly than the one it chose. It didn't and now shouldn't be allowed to escape the consequences.