PHOENIX (Legal Newsline) - Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne filed a lawsuit against General Motors LLC on Thursday, claiming the company threatened motorists' safety by covering up ignition switch defects in its vehicles.
The civil suit claims GM did not recall vehicles in a timely manner after it had knowledge of defects in an effort to avoid paying for the recall and replacement. The suit also alleges that GM knew about the issues but continued to sell the defective vehicles.
“Under Arizona law, companies have a basic responsibility not to deceive and mislead, but instead to act honestly and in good faith," Horne said. "As this lawsuit illustrates, General Motors failed to do that, endangering too many Arizonans."
If found guilty, General Motors faces a $10,000 fine per violation under the Arizona Consumer Fraud Act, Horne says.
“GM manufactured and sold unsafe vehicles in Arizona, and knowingly concealed information about safety hazards from the driving public and its own customers,” Horne said. “As a result, hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting owners and lessees in Arizona continued driving unsafe vehicles, posing a danger to themselves, their passengers and loved ones, other drivers, and pedestrians—all while GM knew the truth about the defects.”