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DETROIT, April 16 (UPI) -- A federal bankruptcy judge on Wednesday acted to spare U.S. automaker General Motors from having to spend billions of dollars to fight and settle lawsuits over a faulty ignition switch problem that's been linked to at least 84 deaths. Judge Robert E. Gerber of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan issued the decision Wednesday, declaring that a shield from the lawsuits contained in a 2009 bankruptcy agreement would be allowed to stand.
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Critics say GM should not be granted legal protection from the lawsuits, particularly because the automaker acknowledged that some of its employees were aware of the ignition problem years ago, but failed to appropriately inform customers.
Lawsuits against GM still may go forward, the judge ruled, but only if they implicate wrongdoing by the automaker after it emerged from government-backed Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization on July 10, 2009. Any claim based on actions prior to that date, however, would now be null and void.
Attorneys have previously estimated that the cost to GM over the defective switches could reach $10 billion. Now, for the time being at least, it appears the automaker won't have to pay out anything remotely close to that amount.
Although Wednesday's ruling appears to be a major victory for the Detroit automaker, legal analysts say that nothing will be decided in this case until the appeals process has been exhausted. Plaintiffs' attorneys have said they will appeal Gerber's ruling.
The defective switches, installed on certain small vehicles manufactured by GM, can completely cut power to those vehicles while in motion -- and in the process disable airbags and other safety features. At least 84 people have died in crashes related to the faulty switch.
Amid the outcry after the defect was found, GM radically overhauled its safety protocol and recalled more than 30 million vehicles with potentially dangerous switches.
GM responded Wednesday to the judge's ruling by applauding its reasoning, The New York Times reported.
"Judge Gerber properly concluded that claims based on [General Motors'] conduct are barred, and that the sale order and injunction will be enforced for such purposes," the automaker said in an emailed statement. "With respect to any claims that were not expressly barred, Judge Gerber's decision doesn't establish any liability against GM and the plaintiffs still must prove the merits of their claims."
Relatives of those who were harmed or killed by the defect, however, expressed profound disappointment and anger over the ruling.
"It's like a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card for GM," said Ken Rimer, the stepfather of Natasha Weigel, who was killed in 2006. "It's very frustrating."
"It's worse than a slap in the face," Laura Christian, the mother of 16-year-old victim Amber Rose, told the Times. "I think the judge is flat-out wrong."
GM has been compensating victims' families, however, just not through a court-mandated settlement. A fund set up by a victims compensation attorney has facilitated payments to families of about a million dollars for each death that has resulted from the faulty switches. The families of all 84 fatality victims have accepted this offer.
Plaintiffs attorneys have argued that GM denied victims' families due process when it entered bankruptcy proceedings without informing them.
"This ruling padlocks the courthouse doors," plaintiffs' attorney Robert Hilliard said. "Hundreds of victims and their families will go to bed tonight forever deprived of justice.
"GM, bathing in billions, may now turn its back on the dead and injured, worry-free."
