WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two more major
figures in General Motors Co's safety debacle will appear on Thursday
for the first time before U.S. lawmakers investigating why it took the
automaker more than 10 years to recall millions of vehicles with a
deadly ignition switch flaw.
Michael Millikin, the general counsel of GM, and Rodney O'Neal,
the chief executive of Delphi Automotive, the maker of the defective
part, are due to testify before a Senate Commerce subcommittee.
Millikin is expected to receive harsh scrutiny because his legal
department dealt with numerous private lawsuits related to crashes
involving the defective switches, but apparently did not urgently
warn other parts of GM.
The Senate panel holding Thursday's hearing is chaired by Missouri
Democrat Claire McCaskill. "Claire will be posing some tough
questions that haven't yet been answered about the role GM's legal
department played in delaying this recall," said Andy Newbold,
spokesman for McCaskill.
In his prepared testimony, Millikin said GM has appointed an outside
law firm to review its litigation practices.
Millikin and other top GM executives were largely exonerated in an
internal investigation that GM hired lawyer Anton Valukas to conduct
and that was released last month. Instead, Valukas blamed
lower-level lawyers and engineers for failing to properly flag the
issue and not connecting air bag failures to the ignition switch
defect.
Lower-level lawyers were among the 15 employees that GM forced out
over the scandal. Millikin said in his prepared testimony that he
did not learn of the extent of the specific defect until February of
this year.
So far, GM has attributed 13 deaths and 54 crashes to the specific
defect, in which the ignition switch can slip from the "run" to the
"accessory" position, causing the engine to stall, air bags to not
deploy, and a loss of power brakes and power steering.
GM this week started running full-page advertisements in newspapers
across the United States advising consumers that the "key to safety"
in operating the recalled vehicles is to use a single key, with no
other items on the key ring, until repairs can be completed.
It is the first time GM has run an ad related to the ignition switch
defect, the company said, adding it is intended to raise awareness
among affected consumers. "This is another important element of our
continued commitment to customer safety," said GM spokesman Patrick
Morrissey.
DELPHI ON HOT SEAT
The House of Representatives and Senate have held a handful of
hearings in which they have demanded answers from GM CEO Mary Barra
about why the automaker failed to act more quickly, but lawmakers
have not sharply focused on GM's lawyers.
It is not clear how roughly the panel will treat Delphi CEO O'Neal
and his company, which so far has largely avoided the harshest
criticism over the scandal. Lawmakers have credited the manufacturer
with proposing a fix to the switch in 2005 that GM did not
immediately adopt.
Also, the Justice Department is not targeting Delphi in its criminal
probe of GM's handling of the safety defect, according to sources
familiar with the investigation.
A House committee aide said last week that Delphi submitted about
7,500 pages of documents in the probe and that the company is
continuing to produce more documents.
Appearing along with Millikin and O'Neal on Thursday will be Barra,
Valukas, and Kenneth Feinberg, a prominent lawyer helping GM
establish a victims' compensation fund.
Feinberg may be questioned about whether the death toll will rise as
he starts reviewing claims.
The hearing may also explore the legislative response to the safety
scandal. Two U.S. senators on Wednesday introduced a bill prompted
by the GM recalls that would make it a crime for corporate officers
to conceal dangers posed by their products.
It may take months, however, for the Senate and House to agree on
reforms. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton,
who has also held hearings on the GM recalls, said no decision has
been made on how specifically to approach legislation.
"With the schedule the way that it is, I don't know that we'll look
at any legislation this year. We'll see," Upton told Reuters on
Tuesday.
(Writing by Karey Van Hall; editing by Matthew Lewis)
