Federal Court Jury Holds GM Liable for Dangerous 2004 Suburban

On July 18, 2017, after three days of  deliberations, a federal court jury in New Haven, Connecticut brought in  a verdict of $2,875,000 in a wrongful death product liability case  against General Motors. The lawsuit claimed that General Motors failed  to adequately warn its customers of a hidden danger in its 2004  Suburban. More specifically, the lawsuit claimed that customers should  have been warned that the 2004 Suburban could be shifted out of park  without the driver's foot on the brake when the key was in the accessory  position allowing the vehicle to rollaway without the engine running.  An eight-year-old girl was killed when the Suburban unexpectedly rolled  down a hill in 2011.

GM declared bankruptcy in 2009, returning to  business as "new GM". GM takes the position in courts across the United  States that even if they know of a dangerous condition in a GM car, if  it was manufactured before 2009, "new GM" has no duty to warn customers  of "old GM" about a problem with their car.

We strongly believe  that GM has the legal duty to warn its current customers of defective  conditions in its vehicles, whether they were manufactured by "old GM"  or new GM.