After Defections to VW, G.M. Adds Job Contracts
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The five top General Motors Corporation executives have signed employment contracts after the possible loss of company secrets in the defection of top purchasing executives last month, John F. Smith Jr., president and chief executive, said yesterday. Mr. Smith said G.M. was worried that information on its future products and strategies could reach Volkswagen A.G. through its departed purchasing chief, Jose Ignacio Lopez de Arriortua, and three of his deputies. All four left G.M. for VW in March. Speaking to reporters in New York after a speech at the International Motor Press Association breakfast, Mr. Smith said his four-member president’s council had recently signed G.M. employment contracts. Mr. Smith also signed a contract. The contracts are a departure from G.M. policy in which executives served “at the pleasure of the board of directors.” It is not unusual among the Big Three auto makers — G.M., the Ford Motor Company and the Chrysler Corporation — to employ top executives without contracts. ‘They Knew Us Well’ Mr. Smith said he was not sure how much information Mr. Lopez and the others might have shared with VW, but he did not rule out the possibility of more legal action beyond last week’s restraining order in Germany in which VW was told to stop raiding employees from G.M. Europe. More : query.nytimes.com |