Concerns are rising that the US government backed bankruptcy and re-structuring of General Motors and Chrysler could result in the "new" GM and Chrysler not being held accountable for claims against the "old" companies.
The order issued late Sunday by the judge in the General Motors bankruptcy case that allowed "old" GM to sell its assets to a "new" GM, also allowed the new company to free itself of injury and wrongful death claims filed before bankruptcy proceedings began.
Under the terms now approved for GM's bankruptcy restructuring, consumers can still sue the old company, but lawyers for the accident victims say they expect that the "old GM" -- the company charged with liquidating any assets not inherited by the new GM -- won't be able to afford to pay any awards that might result from claims.
In the bankruptcy proceedings for Chrysler, the judge ruled that the car company that emerged from bankruptcy is off the hook for liability claims related to any Chrysler car manufactured before the bankruptcy proceedings, even if the claims are filed after the bankruptcy.
That means that someone injured in a Chrysler car next week, for instance, couldn't sue the company if they bought their car before June.
According to Joanne Doroshow of the Center for Justice and Democracy, which helped organize some of the victims' claims, the companies are "abandoning people who have been hurt in (their) cars - It's horrendous.". While General Motors, who owned the Vauxhall brand until recently, declined to comment on the issue, Chryslers' emailed statement to ABC-News said that while "Chrysler is saddened anytime someone is injured in one of its vehicles," freeing itself of product liability claims was "essential to the new company's survival."
Report compiled by Find a Part, Car Parts Search Specialists since 1978.
