General Motors lost its bid to dismiss a lawsuit accusing the automaker of concealing critical evidence about a faulty ignition switch linked to the death of a Georgia woman that took place back in 2010.
Cobb County State Court Judge Kathryn Tanksley denied GM's motion on Aug. 9 to dismiss the new lawsuit filed in May by the family of Brooke Melton, according to a statement from the automaker.
Melton died back in March 2010 when the ignition switch on her 2005 Chevrolet Cobalt slipped into accessory mode and the car collided with another vehicle.
Her parents, Ken and Beth Melton, previously sued the automaker back in 2011 and settled in 2013 for $5 million, according to Reuters.
Key information released during the original lawsuit, including a design change to the switch, helped trigger the recall of more than 2.6 million GM vehicles, including the Cobalt.
The recall has also caused congressional, federal and other investigations into whether the company withheld knowledge of the issue.
The Meltons said they asked GM after the recall to withdraw the settlement, but the company refused, according to court filings. In May, the family filed a new lawsuit, claiming the company fraudulently concealed critical evidence about the switch and that a GM engineer lied under oath about the part when he testified in the case.
The new lawsuit claims the company purposely misled them in order to force them to settle their case, according to Reuters.
GM argued that the case should be dismissed because it had already settled the Melton's claims over Brooke Melton's death.
Tanksley said this weekend that the case "could move forward," according to GM.
"GM will review the court's order once it is entered and will evaluate its options," spokesman Pat Morrissey said in an email, according to Reuters.
Lance Cooper, a lawyer for the Meltons, said the ruling would allow discovery to proceed.
"This will allow the Meltons to finally get the answers to their questions of who at GM knew about the defects in Brooke's car, why she was never told about the design change with the ignition switch and who participated in the decision to conceal evidence during their previous case."
GM started accepting claims for a program to compensate serious injuries and deaths in accidents tied to faulty switches in the Cobalt, Saturn Ion, and other related vehicles.
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