General Motors fails to disclose known auto defects Raphaelson and Levine are resourceful product liability lawyers who have tackled giant auto manufacturers Friday evening’s network newscasts prominently covered the DOT’s $35 million consent-order fine to punish General Motors Co. for delayed disclosure of an ignition-switch problem in millions of vehicles that has been tied to at least 13 deaths and 31 crashes. The CBS Evening News (5/16, lead story, 3:15, Alfonsi, 5.08M) led with the story, with anchor Sharyn Alfonsi calling the fine “the maximum allowed by law” and saying, “GM knew about” the problem “for a decade” before recalling, in February of this year, over 2.5 million vehicles. Transportation Secretary Foxx was shown announcing the fine and related actions against GM, saying, “Literally, silence can kill. ... Together, these penalties should put all automakers on notice.” CBS’ Jeff Glor cited the 67-page order in which GM “admitted it broke Federal law” and agreed to give NHTSA a “list of every safety-related issue concerning vehicles already in the fleet.” On NBC Nightly News, (5/16, story 3, 3:10, Williams, 7.86M) correspondent Tom Costello reported that in internal “training documents,” GM “discouraged employees from using terms like ‘defect,’ ‘dangerous,’ or ‘safety-related.’” Beyond the fine, GM agreed to allow DOT oversight of “a safety process the Feds believe was broken.” Foxx: “What we will never accept is a person or company that knows danger exists and says nothing. Literally, silence can kill.” GM’s knowledge of the defective ignition switches dates back five years, NBC said. Foxx: “What GM did was break the law.” Bloomberg News (5/16, Plungis, Higgins, 2.76M) cites the DOT’s description of “significant and wide-ranging internal changes” that GM agreed to, and it quotes Foxx as telling a news conference that the company “did not act and did not alert us in a timely manner.” He added: “What GM did was break the law. They failed to meet their public-safety obligations.” GM told employees to steer clear of damning words. Saturday’s ABC World News (5/17, story 6, 1:40, Muir) follows up reporting on the $35 million fine against General Motors Co. “for its handling of the faulty ignition switches linked to at least 13 deaths” by citing an internal training document from the automaker containing a “list of words employees were allegedly told not to use.” Correspondent Susan Saulny suggested the “confidential” 2008 slide presentation reflected an “internal culture at GM designed to downplay problems.” The list of 68 words and phrases GM workers were to avoid included “defect,” “crippling,” “serious,” “explode,” “always,” and “bad,” along with “more vivid” terms like “deathtrap” and “widowmaker.” Alternatives were suggested, such as “issue” instead of “problem.” The Center for Auto Safety’s Clarence Ditlow told ABC that GM had excluded “every word that could possibly indicate a defect.” The report also repeated footage from Friday’s DOT announcement of the GM fine, with Secretary Foxx saying, “Literally, silence can kill.” Similar coverage of this aspect of the GM story comes from CNN Money (5/17, Valdes-Dapena), which dubbed it “GM’s naughty words list;” the AP; (5/16, Durbin) The Hill’s (5/17, Cama, 237K) “Briefing Room” blog; TIME; (5/17, Frizell, 24.1M) and BuzzFeed. (5/17, Fischler, 10.34M) Forbes (5/17, Fisher, 6.28M), however, has a contrarian view, describing the GM list as “a completely sensible memo” meant to remind employees “what happens when incautiously written statements end up in the hands of trial lawyers.” Foxx calls NHTSA actions versus GM a “notice” to auto industry. MLive (5/17, Wayland, 474K) points to what DOT officials called the “unprecedented” oversight GM faces as a result of Friday’s consent order. It quotes Secretary Foxx as saying in the announcement of NHTSA’s actions that the combined penalties against GM “should put all automakers on notice that there is no excuse and zero tolerance for failing to notify the Federal government when a defect puts safety at risk.” MLIve characterized Foxx as “very blunt” regarding the DOT’s view of GM’s inaction, quoting him as saying, “Literally, silence can kill.” The story also mentioned the secretary’s answer when asked if DOT would recommend a criminal probe of GM: “The considerations that the Department of Justice would give to a situation like this are really up to the Department of Justice,” Foxx said. “We, of course, would participle and comply with any request that they would have of us.” CBS This Morning (5/17, 2.91M) recapped Friday’s news, citing Foxx’s remarks and noting the objections of some members of Congress, particularly Democratic Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Edward Markey of Massachusetts, who said the penalties are too light. Blumenthal said he had urged Attorney General Eric Holder to expedite the Justice Department’s GM investigation and that he is s working on Senate legislation to give the public more data about car-safety matters. GM’s ability to regain trust of regulators, consumers is gauged. The Detroit Free Press (5/18, Snavely, Bomey, 1.02M) explores the automaker’s efforts to rebound from its recent defect/recall controversy, saying “it will take longer to persuade consumers that organizational changes translate into safer cars and trucks.” The story surveys auto industry analysts, legal experts, and GM officials for their views. The Free Press also reports that Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber in New York on Friday asked lawyers for GM and owners of recently recalled cars to submit briefs and return to court on July 2. The issue: “whether GM’s 2009 taxpayer-funded bankruptcy granted it protection from product liability claims from defective vehicles built before” it exited bankruptcy protection. GM self-review is said to focus on company’s lawyers. In continuing coverage, Reuters (5/19, Loney) reports that General Motors’ legal department is the main focus of a company inquiry into how it dealt with a safety defect that has been connected to 13 deaths. A New York Times (5/18, A1, Vlasic, Subscription Publication, 9.65M) review of internal documents showed that company officials “particularly in GM’s legal department, led by the general counsel Michael P. Millikin, acted with increasing urgency in the last 12 months to grapple with the spreading impact of the ignition problem.” Meanwhile, Reuters notes that Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said that GM has broken the law and failed to protect the public safety. The Times article also notes that GM restarted its internal investigation after a lawsuit was filed by the family of a Georgia woman who died in a 2010 crash involving a Cobalt vehicle. CNBC airs special report on GM ignition switch recall. MLive (5/19, Wayland, 474K) reported that CNBC planned to air a special one-hour report Sunday night called “Failure to Recall: Investigating GM.” MLive notes that the report comes two days after DOT “announced a record $35 million fine and sanctions over the delayed recall of the recalled vehicles.” A CNBC spokesperson said the “program will focus on the ignition switch recall, but also discuss GM’s overall recall crisis.” CNBC (5/19, Eisenstein, 31.28M) also reports that “automotive analysts suggest that GM’s well-publicized problems with a defective ignition switch linked to at least 13 fatalities, and the $1.2 billion fine Toyota agreed to pay in March to settle charges related to its own safety problems, mark a dramatic shift in the way the auto industry handles safety problems.” More information in the special report is available at CNBC (5/19, 31.28M). Milwaukee paper investigated problem with Chevy Cruze. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (5/19, Laasby, 893K) reports on Barbara Stein, who was driving her 2013 Chevy Cruze when she tried to accelerate from a stop. She said, “I put my foot down on my gas pedal and nothing happened. I had the presence of mind to pull over from the left lane to the right. My car coasted to a stop. Not a light went on, nothing.” She took the car to a mechanic but he couldn’t replicate the problem. The Journal Sentinel compares the issues with Stein’s car to the faulty ignition switches in the recalled GM vehicles and notes that “often, many people report what appears to be the same problem with the same vehicle model and year and complain that a recall has not been issued.” Meanwhile, “manufacturers have a financial incentive to delay or try to avoid a recall entirely,” says Clarence Ditlow, executive director of the, Center for Auto Safety. Stein plans to file a complaint with the NHTSA. GM working to regain consumer trust. USA Today (5/19, Bomey, Snavely, 5.82M) reports on how long it will take GM to regain the trust of consumers after revelations of widespread defects and delayed recalls. Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor specializing in liability law, said by admitting to the NHTSA “that did not report the ignition switch problem in a timely manner, GM is setting the stage for settlements with accident victims and their families.” USA Today outlines that steps GM has taken since March to deal with the scandal, including the replacement of several high-ranking officials. USA Today notes that “analysts also expect GM will ultimately be forced to pay several billion dollars in settlements and fines.”
Posted on: Mon, 19 May 2014 13:09:26 +0000
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