U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman on Friday ordered discovery to begin for some cases filed against General Motors Co. in connection with its recall of millions of cars for a faulty ignition switch, Reuters reported on Friday. Judge Furman said that plaintiffs could begin requesting documents from the company related to accidents, injuries and lost vehicle value linked to the switch that allegedly occurred after GM emerged from bankruptcy in 2009. Since the beginning of the year, GM has recalled nearly 15 million vehicles worldwide over potentially defective ignition switches. The company has set up a program, run by lawyer Kenneth Feinberg, to compensate victims of crashes involving about 2.6 million of those cars, mostly Cobalts, Ions and other small cars. The program has so far identified 19 deaths linked to the defect.
