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CARS
General Motors

Judge dismisses GM ignition switch lawsuit

Alissa Priddle
Detroit Free Press
Auto technician Billy Morgan works on installing a new ignition switch during a recall repair on a Chevrolet HHR vehicle at Fitzgerald Auto Mall in Frederick, Maryland.

A court has dismissed a lawsuit against General Motors that alleged the board of directors did not perform its duty in preventing the mounting losses from the sale of vehicles with faulty and deadly ignition switches.

The shareholder suit sought to recover losses due to expenses, fines, lawsuits and damages to the company as a result of the 119 deaths and 234 injuries associated with faulty parts and a huge and costly recall.

GM had filed a motion to dismiss the action and the Delaware Chancery Court made its decision Friday to do so. The decision was not made public until late Monday night.

Delaware Chancery Court Judge Sam Glasscock found that the GM board "did not consciously fail to monitor" or oversee GM operations and thus he could not find "substantial likelihood of personal liability on the part of a majority of the board."

The judge concluded GM had adequate risk-assessment systems in place and there were not obvious problems or "red flags" that the board knew of but ignored, nor was there evidence of bad faith on the part of the directors.

The finding is a win for GM, which has been bombarded by lawsuits and is the subject of many investigations after it was discovered the automaker used defective parts and hid the information for more than a decade. The company could also be facing as much as $2 billion in fines for its actions.

"The Delaware Court properly dismissed the complaint because GM's board of directors did its job in exercising oversight over the company," the company said in a statement. "The other shareholder derivative actions pending against the board make the same allegations, so we hope the courts will dismiss those as well."

There are three similar cases pending in Michigan, one in Wayne County and two in Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan that have been waiting for the outcome of the Delaware case. Spokesman Jim Cain said he is hopeful these cases will be dismissed because of the Delaware decision.

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