General Motors chief executive Mary Barra will be questioned later this year by lawyers suing GM over its defective ignition switches.
Barra is one of 35 current and former GM employees to be questioned, attorney Bob Hilliard said recently. The depositions begin on May 6 with the questioning of GM customer experience chief Alicia Boler-Davis. Barra’s deposition, scheduled for October 8, will be the last.
Hilliard sued GM in July on behalf of people who were injured or killed in crashes allegedly caused by faulty ignition switches. A trial is set for January 2016 in the District Court in New York.
The switches could slip into the “off” position, disabling power steering and air bags. The lawsuit alleges GM knew of the defective switches as early as 2001 but didn’t recall any cars until last year.
Barra told the US Congress she learned about the defective switches in December 2013, a month before GM began recalling 2.6 million affected vehicles.
GM has already admitted violating the law, paying a $35 million fine and agreeing to strict federal oversight. It has also paid undisclosed settlements to the families of 67 people killed in crashes caused by the switches as part of a compensation fund overseen by Kenneth Feinberg. The fund has also compensated 113 people injured in crashes.
The plaintiffs represented by Hilliard are not part of that settlement process. GM and its employees could also face separate criminal charges as a result of an ongoing Justice Department investigation.
-AP