General Motors is suing a former board member, claiming he leaked confidential information to a rival company and to the United Auto Workers, a move the automaker claims added billions to its labour costs, a media report said.
According to Marketwatch.com, GM filed a federal lawsuit accusing Joseph Ashton, a former vice president at the UAW, of accepting bribes from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV which was at the time trying to pressure GM into a merger. Ashton served as a GM director at the time of the merger advances, which later became public.
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The report said Fiat Chrysler had called GM's allegations meritless and an attempt to hurt its reputation.
GM also claimed Fiat Chrysler used offshore bank accounts to bribe Ashton in exchange for confidential information he had access to in his role as a GM board member – he served from 2014 to 2017.
The lawsuit also accused Ashton of taking bribes from Fiat Chrysler during the time he served as the UAW's lead labour negotiator with GM. GM said Fiat Chrysler paid off Ashton to drive a harder bargain with GM in labour negotiations.
"In part due to Ashton's disloyalty and breaches of confidence, GM was forced to incur billions of dollars in increased labour costs," GM's lawsuit said, according to Marketwatch.com.
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By GlobalDataAshton last year pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering while a UAW official, the report added.
