A former General Motors employee is set to be questioned by lawyers representing the consumers affected by the defective GM ignition switch. The meeting will be held June 18 and 19 of 2015 in Detroit. This meeting is a key point in finding answers for GM’s actions in handling a defective ignition switch that allegedly caused several fatal auto accidents and hundreds of injuries.

GM Ignition Switch Litigation

Former GM employee Raymond D. is one of 15 employees that General Motors laid off over the now infamous GM ignition switch recall action. Raymond is no stranger to the recall investigation, as he was featured prominently in a report commissioned by General Motors and written by a former U.S. Attorney. This report detailed how the company failed for over a decade to recall millions of older model Chevrolet Cobalts and other compact vehicles that had the faulty GM ignition switches.

Raymond’s testimony is expected to be key, as he was reportedly responsible for approving the faulty GM ignition switch, an alleged deviation from GM regulations. He is expected to provide information as to why he later changed the design of GM ignition switches without telling anyone.

Additionally, he allegedly did not assign a new part number to the defective GM ignition switch, which may have helped GM officials address the problem sooner.

According to experts, Raymond’s altered design increased the torque required to turn the key, allegedly causing the ignition switch defect. In an earlier wrongful death case against GM in April 2013, Raymond claimed that he was unaware of the ignition switch design change that required more torque; this wrongful death case was one of the many reasons that GM initiated the 2014 recall.

Several other current and former GM employees are set to be questioned or have already been questioned, as part of pretrial proceedings for a set of lawsuits that have been consolidated in a federal district court in New York.

The lawyers are also preparing to call GM attorneys who failed to question the faulty GM ignition switches, as they were settling cases where airbags failed to deploy. These future depositions will focus on each of the current or former employees’ roles in developing and implementing the defective GM ignition switches, as well as why no corrective action was taken at the appropriate times.

The depositions of Raymond and the other employees are being conducted during a separate investigative probe spearheaded by the U.S. Justice Department, which is predicted to find illegal activity that will result in over a billion dollar fine.

Last year, GM paid a record $35 million in civil fines for failing to promptly alert the public and auto-safety regulators of the ignition switch defects in a timely manner. Experts now believe that this faulty part may be responsible for numerous other deaths and crashes spanning over the past decade.

Overview of GM Ignition Switch Recall

Described as a highly dangerous problem, the defective GM ignition switch is characterized by the switch’s position suddenly turning to the off-position in the ignition slot, allegedly due to excessive weight of key chains. This ultimately causes the car to shut-off, along with all safety features including: air bags, power steering, and power brakes.

Approximately 2.6 million vehicles were plagued by defective GM ignition switches, which reportedly caused over 100 deaths and 199 injuries. Upon issuing the ignition switch recall, General Motors set up a victims’ compensation fund  to provide financial relief to victims who were severely injured or had lost a loved one as a result of the defective GM ignition switches.