General Motor's General Counsel Michael Millikin To Retire In Early 2015 - General Motors (NYSE:GM)

General Motors CompanyGM

announced Friday afternoon that its General Counsel and Senior Vice President Michael Millikin will retire in early 2015. Millikin joined General Motors in 1977 and was named General Counsel in 2009. The company did not offer a reason for Millikin's exit, leading traders and investors to speculate the reasoning behind the decision of the 66-year-old Millikin may or may not be related to the company's recent ignition system fiasco. Inside Counsel

reported in July that Senator Clair McCaskill (D-Mo) along with other key senators expressed their views that Millikin should be fired from the company over the executive's handling of the switch ignition ordeal. McCaskill told Millikin during General Motor's hearings, "I don't get how you and Lucy Clark Dougherty [general counsel for North America] still have your jobs. This is either gross negligence or gross incompetence on the part of a lawyer. " General Motors' CEO Mary Barra stood by Millikin during the hearings and stated on Friday that Millikin is a "man of impeccable integrity, respectful candor, and unwavering loyalty."

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