In early October, General Motors’s legal team agreed to hand over more data regarding the ongoing litigation over the alleged GM ignition switch defect.

General Motors has faced ignition switch lawsuits, as well as scrutiny from lawmakers and the press over the GM ignition switch defect.

GM initiated a massive recall over the alleged GM ignition switch defect. According to investigators and GM lawsuits, a variety of GM vehicles had problems with the ignition switch defect.

Allegedly, this defect could allow a car’s ignition switch to flip from the “on” position to the “auxiliary” position while driving. In the auxiliary position, a car’s engine shuts down and the air bags deactivate.

If this happens while a vehicle is in motion, this could lead to a serious accident with critical safety features disabled. Several dozen deaths have been allegedly attributed to this problem, prompting the GM recall.

GM’s own internal investigation suggests that key individuals at GM were aware of the problem for roughly 10 years before the recall, but a “culture of incompetence” impeded actions like the GM recall.

Under objection, General Motors’s legal team has agreed to provide more documents to the federal court that is holding the GM ignition recall class action lawsuit. In a document dated Oct. 7, GM’s legal team has agreed to search several GM databases, including the GM Customer Assistance Center database, the New GM Technical Assistance Center database, and the New GM Warranty database.

According to the General Motors legal team, the databases will be combed for any complaints linked to the GM ignition switch issues, including cars that switched from the “on” to “off” or “auxiliary” position. As part of the agreement, they will also index the reports and provide the courts with the number of complaints that are uncovered.

The legal action over the GM ignition switch defect has taken the form of a multidistrict litigation, or MDL. MDLs are a type of coordinated legal action created by grouping similar lawsuits together. MDLs are similar to class action lawsuits, in that they represent a group of plaintiffs who allege that they have suffered similar harm at the hands of the same defendant. The main difference between MDLs and class action lawsuits is that class action lawsuits start out as group lawsuits, while MDLs are created by coordinating similar individual lawsuits. In the case of the GM ignition switch litigation, an MDL was created because there were several lawsuits making similar allegations.

The GM Ignition Switch Recall MDL is In Re: General Motors LLC Ignition Switch Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2542, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.