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July 18, 2014

Top GM Lawyer Grilled by Senate Panel over Fatal Defect 
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The top lawyer at General Motors has faced a grilling before a Senate
committee over the company's failure to address an ignition switch
defect for more than a decade. The defect, which prompted the recall of
millions of cars, has been linked to at least 13, but potentially
hundreds, of deaths. Democratic Senator Claire Mc Caskill of Missouri
called the failures of GM's legal unit "stunning," saying the company's
focus on minimizing its own liability had "killed innocent customers."
She asked GM CEO Mary Barra why Michael Millikin, the head of GM's legal
department, had not been fired.

Senator Claire Mc Caskill: "How in the world, in the aftermath of this
(the GM internal) report did Michael Millikin keep his job? I do not
understand."

Mary Barra: "As you know, I have made the promise to fix what happened
in the company to make sure that we are dedicated to safety, that we're
dedicated to excellence. We are well on our way. We've made significant
change. To do that, I need the right team, and Mike Millikin is a man of
incredibly high integrity."

 

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