GM’s chief legal counsel, Michael Milliken, is also blaming his inaction on members of his staff who did not inform him of the severity of the problem. What is his job if not to know that the company’s cars have killed people? He hired Anton Valukas—a well known legal investigator—to document what happened. That was like letting the fox into the henhouse.
Solso has called Milliken “a really important person at GM and a valued advisor to both the board, and CEO Mary Barra.” Well, if he winds up in jail, he may be so valued that some members of the board and management may be joining him.
Meanwhile, Valukas’ 315-page report uncovered what the board and management should have already known—that there had been years of serious mistakes and errors, and deceptions among engineers, product specialists, and even lawyers, on how a defect could cut engine power and disable airbags in millions of GM cars.
Solso’s response to the report was, “Yes, we should have known earlier. The way I look at it, GM has not been run well for a long period of time.” This is from the new chairman of the board! He went on to say that he was “shocked” and “stunned” by the findings in the Valukas report.
However, the the most shocking statement of all was when Solso said the board and management were not lax about safety. Instead, he said, “the problem is that people did not do their job.” Well isn’t the job of management to oversee the employees, and the job of the board to oversee management? It doesn’t look like anybody was overseeing anything.