WARREN, Mich. (June 5, 2014, CNNMoney) — The delayed recall by General Motors that led to the deaths of at least 13 people was due to both the misconduct of about 20 employees, as well as “a pattern of incompetence and neglect” throughout the company, according to an internal probe of the recall released Thursday.
GM CEO Mary Barra announced that 15 employees have been dismissed from the company and five more have been disciplined in the wake of the three-month probe by former federal prosecutor Anton Valukas. Barra said some were dismissed due to misconduct or incompetence, while others simply did not do enough to fix the problem. The names and jobs of those dismissed were not disclosed.
Barra said that she was deeply saddened and disturbed reading Valukas’ report.
“It represents a fundamental failure to meet the basic needs of these customers,” she said about the findings of the report. “We simply didn’t do our jobs. We failed these customers,”
Barra’s said the report found that “GM personnel’s inability to address the ignition switch problem, which persisted for more than 11 years, represents a history of failures.”
“While everybody who was engaged on the ignition switch issue had the responsibility to fix it, nobody took responsibility,” she said. “Throughout the entire 11-year history, there was no demonstrated sense of urgency, right to the very end.”
