6/9/14 - The parties in a lawsuit between a local woman and General Motors have agreed to a stay of proceedings. Lorie Biggs of Pinckney filed the lawsuit in Michiganâs Eastern District Federal Court last month. GM issued a recall of specific models in February due to a problem with the ignition system that could potentially be dangerous. Alyson Oliver, the attorney representing Biggs, says her firm believes GM knew about the defect long before the recall, going so far as to alter the design of the faulty part without changing its part number in an attempt to correct it. However, she says GM never told consumers about the problem, allowing them to purchase vehicles that were physically dangerous and economically worthless since they cannot be resold. Last week, Biggs and GM agreed to a stay of proceedings until September to comply with an order issued by bankruptcy court in July of 2009. Oliver tells WHMI this was to give the Panel on Multidistrict Litigation time to decide where the case should be litigated. Earlier today, that body decided to hold the case in the southern district of New York before the same judge who handled GMâs bankruptcy. Oliver says GM plans to argue that its obligations in this case were discharged during bankruptcy, so it makes sense to litigate the case in front of the judge best suited to determine whether that is the case. She says the stay will likely be lifted and an official status conference set once the cases are transferred to New York. Only economic loss claims against GM are being relocated to New York. For now, personal injury claims will be litigated in the jurisdictions in which they were filed. (TD)
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