Aaron Jacoby Comments on General Motors Safety Defects

Law360 reported that the House Energy and Commerce Committee “seized on new findings over the weekend that the automaker’s engineers cited cost concerns when they decided in 2005 not to resolve an ignition switch problem in which certain Chevrolet Cobalt vehicles could be ‘keyed off’ with a knee while driving.” Ms. Barra testified that “the post-bankruptcy automaker would never allow cost concerns to stop it from fixing a safety defect as lawmakers said the pre-bankruptcy company did.”

“Barra has been walking a tightrope between sending a positive public relations message and the reality of legal defense issues,” said Mr. Jacoby. “She’s already come out on the right side of the PR battle by acknowledging the company’s problems, but she has done so in a way that preserves a lot of the legal defenses the company may need to assert, including the bankruptcy defense.”