Lucas,
When a corporation like General Motors (GM) makes a dangerous product that results in people being killed or injured, should the defects or deaths and injuries be kept secret?
Of course not.
So far, GM's faulty ignition switches have been implicated in the deaths of 13 people since as far back as 2005. But the public is only now learning about it.
We would have known much sooner if not for confidentiality agreements GM insisted on in earlier legal settlements.
The Sunshine in Litigation Act (H.R. 4361), introduced by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), would encourage transparency of court documents when public health and safety are at risk.
Tell your member of Congress: Co-sponsor H.R. 4361 and stop corporations from putting profits and PR before human lives.
GM engineers debated whether to fix the ignition switches as early as 2005. The idea was nixed because it would have added almost a dollar to the cost of each vehicle.*
Instead, GM hid the dangerous defect.
How many lives could have been saved if GM didn't have the option to sweep the fatal flaw under the rug?
The scariest thing about the GM crisis is that GM isn't alone.
Corporate lawyers routinely insist on court-ordered secret settlements, which means a company can escape accountability for additional deaths and injuries, even if a defect in a toy, medical device, prescription drug or other product is still on the market.
Every time a corporation settles a case in secret that involves a public health and safety issue like this, our lives are placed at risk. It's time Corporate America stops keeping us in the dark.
That is why we must tell our representatives and senators to pass the Sunshine in Litigation Act TODAY.
Thanks for all you do,
Rick Claypool and Kelly Ngo
Public Citizen's Online Action Team
action@citizen.org
*GM avoided defective switch redesign in 2005 to save a dollar each