Texas: Signalling a tougher stance toward legal claims stemming from its recent recall over faulty ignition switches, General Motors Co said it will ask a US court to bar lawsuits related to actions before its 2009 bankruptcy.
GM has previously said it is protected from liability for claims related to incidents that occurred before it exited bankruptcy in 2009. But it has now taken its first steps to raise those issues with the court by filing motions to stay recall-related lawsuits while it asks that bankruptcy court to clarify the extent of that protection.
In a filing with the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas on Tuesday, GM asked for a stay on litigation related to ignition claims until a judicial panel on multidistrict litigation decides on a motion to consolidate the case with other lawsuits and the bankruptcy court rules on whether the claims violate GM’s 2009 bankruptcy sale order.
The company earlier filed a similar motion with the US District Court for the Northern District of California seeking a stay on pending litigation.
The plaintiffs in those cases have alleged that they bought or leased vehicles that contained an ignition switch defect. The defect has been linked to the deaths of at least 13 people and resulted in the recall of 2.6 million GM vehicles.
GM said it would shortly file a motion in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to enforce an injunction contained in its sale order, which the company said bars plaintiffs from suing the reorganised company for any claims related to the predecessor company.
Since it began to recall vehicles in February, GM has been hit by dozens of lawsuits on behalf of individuals injured or killed in crashes involving recalled cars, as well as customers who said their vehicles lost value as a result of the company’s actions.
A spokesman for GM, Greg Martin, said in an email that it was premature to comment on the litigation. Reuters
