GM expected to dismiss multiple employees as internal probe is released

General Motors plans to announce that it is dismissing multiple employees, including engineers, members of its legal staff and at least one vice president, in connection with their roles in a deadly recall that was delayed for years after ignition switches were known to be faulty, a person familiar with the company's plans said today.

Those being let go are expected to include Ray DeGiorgio, the engineer who was in charge of the ignition switch and violated GM protocol by keeping the same part number in 2006 when he approved modifications that fixed the defect without informing regulators or the public, the person said.

At least two published reports today also said GM is planning the terminations. A GM spokesman declined comment.

GM also plans to terminate Gary Altman, the former program engineering manager of the Chevrolet Cobalt who, along with DeGiorgio, has been suspended with pay since April 10, said another the person familiar with GM's plans.

Neither DeGiorgio nor Altman have commented publicly on their situations.

GM CEO Mary Barra has scheduled a town hall meeting with employees at 9 a.m. to share findings from an internal investigation into why GM waited so long to recall 2.6 million Cobalts, Saturn Ions and other cars whose airbags could fail in a crash if the ignition slips out of “run” mode. She will address reporters and Wall Street analysts during subsequent events.

The investigation was conducted by former U.S. Attorney Anton Valukas, who also issued the official report on the collapse of the Lehman Brothers investment bank. GM’s general counsel, Mike Millikin, who helped lead the investigation, is expected to be absolved of wrongdoing and stay with the automaker but other members of the legal department are among “a number of people” being fired,The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unidentified sources.

The report will show that there was no conspiracy to cover up the matter and that Barra, everyone who reports directly to Barra, GM’s board and former CEO Dan Akerson all had no knowledge of the defect before December, the Journal said. The issue first reached the top GM committee that voted on whether to issue recalls in mid-December, about a week after Barra was selected to succeed Akerson.

New board committee

GM’s board is expected to form an operational risk-management committee to better monitor potential risks, the newspaper said. It said the report concludes that GM managers did not connect problems with the switches to the potential for fatal crashes.

GM says it has linked 13 deaths and 47 crashes to the defective switches. Lawyers and safety advocates contend that the death and injury toll is far higher.

At least one vice president and a senior lawyer will be among those leaving GM, The Detroit Newsreported. The newspaper described the report as “painful,” according to people who have seen it, and said GM would turn it over early today to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which would in turn make it public later in the day.

GM in May admitted breaking federal law and agreed to pay a $35 million fine levied by NHTSA. It also has to meet with NHTSA officials monthly to discuss potential safety issues and implementation of the changes recommended by Valukas’ report.

Bob Lutz, the former GM vice chairman who headed product development, said last night during a dinner event at Eastern Michigan University that high turnover and lack of communication in the company caused the faulty ignition switches to go unnoticed.

Lutz said each department in the company knew small aspects of the problem, but employees never came together to look at the big picture.