A Texas lawyer has filed a lawsuit against General Motors on behalf of 658 people who were injured or killed in crashes allegedly caused by faulty ignition switches, according to Reuters.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan in New York City names 29 people who were killed in crashes and 629 who were hurt, Reuters reported.
All the crashes occurred after GM emerged from bankruptcy protection in July of 2009, according to Reuters. That makes them exempt from GM's efforts to shield itself from claims due to crashes that occurred before the bankruptcy, attorney Robert Hilliard said in a statement.
Hilliard also said he will ask judges for permission to file another 248 cases from before the bankruptcy, including 21 deaths, Reuters reported.
"It's certainly not a legal given that GM will be successful in its attempts to use this 'get-out-of-jail-free' bankruptcy card," said Hilliard, of Corpus Christi, Texas, according to Reuters.
The lawsuit seeks $75,000 in damages and alleges that GM knew about the defective switches that can cause engines to stall since as early as 2001, yet it didn't recall any cars until this year, Reuters reported. The switches can cut off the engine, knocking out power steering and brakes and disabling the airbags, which wouldn't protect people in a crash.
GM recalled 2.6 million small cars such as the Chevrolet Cobalt for defective switches starting in February, touching off a recall crisis at the company that has ballooned to 29 million recalled vehicles, according to Reuters. Of those, 17.3 million are to fix defective ignition switches, but only owners of the original 2.6 million small cars are eligible for compensation through Feinberg.
GM says the small-car switches have caused at least 54 crashes and 13 deaths, Reuters reported.
