General Motors CEO Mary Barra said she has put two GM engineers on leave in connection with faulty ignition switches that have forced the recall of 2.6 million vehicles worldwide and are linked to 31 crashes and 12 deaths in the U.S., plus one fatal crash in Canada.
Separately, GM also has asked NASA to provide a team to verify that the recalled cars can safely be driven. Barra has guaranteed in several forums that if drivers use only the ignition switch, with nothing hanging from it, that the switches won't malfunction. She told Congress she'd let her teenage son drive one that way.
The two engineers, not identified by name or by their connection to the switch snafu within GM, are being paid while on leave. GM did not say if they eventually would be fired or provide other specifics.
"This is an interim step as we seek the truth about what happened," Barra said. "It was a difficult decision, but I believe it is best for GM."
Read Article