A bankruptcy judge’s decision that a General Motors Co. customer failed to state a valid claim against the estate of “Old GM” was upheld by a federal judge in Manhattan, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Such rulings don’t get overturned unless the court’s findings of fact are clearly wrong, U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield said in ending the appeal of U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Gerber’s decision. An Old GM trust had allowed the customer to pursue a 2009 personal injury lawsuit in Florida during the automaker’s bankruptcy, even though most suits were stopped, Judge Schofield said. The car owner asked Judge Gerber to rule on his claim after the Florida court dismissed his suit last year, saying that he was a “vexatious litigant,” according to a filing yesterday in U.S. Bankrupty Court in Manhattan. In his suit, the customer demanded compensation from GM’s predecessor for “personal injury, conspiracy, fraud, gross negligence, strict liability, [and] punitive damages,” arising from an alleged defect in his previously owned Hummer H2 vehicle, according to the filing.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-05-21/old-gm-customer-loses-ap…
In related news, General Motors Co. Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra returned to Washington, D.C., to brief lawmakers on the automaker’s internal investigation of an ignition-switch defect linked to 13 fatalities, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Barra met yesterday with lawmakers from both chambers of Congress. The head of the largest U.S. automaker, who testified during two days of hearings beginning April 1, updated lawmakers on the probe being led by Jenner & Block LLC Chairman Anton Valukas. GM hired the former federal prosecutor to determine why the company took years to recall 2.59 million small cars to fix a faulty switch linked to air-bag failures.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2014-05-21/gm-s-barra-makes-return-…