Federal judge sends key GM case to Georgia court

[unhappycamper]

http://gazette.com/federal-judge-sends-key-gm-case-to-georgia-court/article/feed/138580

Federal judge sends key GM case to Georgia court
Associated Press Updated: July 19, 2014 at 12:00 am

DETROIT (AP) — A federal judge in Atlanta has sent an important wrongful death lawsuit against General Motors back to a Georgia court.

Judge Thomas Thrash Jr. ruled Friday that a Cobb County judge should handle the case filed by the family of Brooke Melton. GM had moved the case to the federal court system.

Melton, a 29-year-old nurse, died in a 2010 car crash near Atlanta. Her parents sued GM alleging that a faulty ignition switch in her 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt unexpectedly shut off the engine, causing her to lose control of the car.

The case exposed that GM knew about the faulty switches for more than a decade but failed to recall the cars until this year. It also touched off a crisis at the company that has resulted in 54 recalls involving 29 million vehicles this year. And it brought federal investigations, cover-up allegations and a $35 million fine from federal regulators for delays in reporting safety problems.