The car company reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to settle criminal charges levied against it for misleading regulators to a fatal ignition switch flaw responsible for more than 100 deaths.
General Motors CEO Mary Barra testifies before the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation in 2014.
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
General Motors and the Department of Justice reached a $900 million settlement Thursday that spares the company's employees from criminal punishment in exchange for a type of corporate probation, according to court records filed in the Southern District of New York.
The automotive company admitted that it misled regulators and the public as well as failed to disclose information about a potentially fatal defect in the ignition switch that affected airbag deployment and other car functions in certain GM models, according to the settlement. It also took responsibility for 15 deaths as a result of the defect.
GM has been mired in controversy over trying to cover-up the fatal ignition switch defect that was responsible for more than 100 deaths and close to 200 injuries, according to CBS News. The defect, that could disable a car's airbags, power steering and power brakes, affected certain Chevrolet, Pontiac and Saturn brand cars.
The Detroit-based company agreed to a probationary period of up to four years, during which it must retain a Justice Department-appointed monitor in its offices. The monitor, who will be paid for by GM, will review the company's vehicle safety policies including its process for sharing engineering analyses with people responsible for recall decisions and its procedures to address known defects.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara acknowledged at a press conference on Thursday that some people, including the families of victims, may be disappointed by the settlement.
"When bad things happen and tragic things unfold people want accountability," said Bharara. "At the end of the day, the law is the law and the facts are the facts. The law doesn't always do what we wish it could."
Bharara said federal criminal statues only allow prosecutors to address wrongdoing that arise from "disclosure or a lack of disclosure" in which a "person knew the facts, knew safety problems, had an obligation to tell someone else and then made misstatements to the public."
"It turns out if you have a complex structure in which various people knew bits and things and other people had responsibilities to make statements to the public, it's not as easy as it looks sometimes," he said.
He added that it is possible the Justice Department will pursue criminal charges against certain GM employees.
GM admitted to two counts of criminal conduct for scheming to conceal material facts from government regulators and wire fraud. The Department of Justice first opened an investigation into the company's cover up last year.
GM has recalled about 2.6 million cars since 2012. It fired 15 employees as a result of an internal probe last year in which it admitted it failed to recall the defective models for over a decade even though it had knowledge of the flaws.
Here's the full decision:
LINK: GM Fires 15 Employees Over Deadly Ignition Switch
from BuzzFeed - USNews http://ift.tt/1OzIk8a
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