We've been fairly hard on GM about everything concerning their recall that killed at least 13 people, but hey, the company made cars that were directly responsible for the deaths of at least 13 people. But they have made some good moves, and now they're adding their settlement structure to that list.
GM, so far, has actually been remarkably decent about the whole monetary-compensation thing, as corporations go. Payouts are set up to be open-ended, with no upper limit, and relatives of those who were killed will probably receive at least $1 million. Furthermore, simply filing a claim for a payout will not prevent the families from suing the company later on, nor will the company invoke its bankruptcy protection provisions to escape responsibility.
Those latter two are especially important, seeing as how the legal ramifications of this whole thing have played out.
In another morally decent move, David Roman, company director of financial communications, told Business Insurance (an affiliate of Automotive News) that the company won't be relying on any liability insurance to pay for claims, either, but will rather be paying victims out of its own pocket.
It really does appear as if the company is owning up to the responsibility, and paying for it (financially, at least).
GM had about $19.4 billion in cash on hand in its most recent announced quarter, so let's hope that's enough.
Photo credit: Getty Images