For years it was Ralph Nader against General Motors, which went so far as
to hire private detectives to discredit him. It even sent a prostitute to try to
seduce him at a food counter at Safeway's, but he turned her away. So the
gumshoes tried to prove he was homosexual, but were caught as they tried to follow him
into Congress. The scandal made Nader into a hero overnight. The car makers were
ultimately forced to introduce air bags.
Ralph Nader, the crusading critic of auto safety standards, has carried his long public
feud with General Motors before television cameras, congressional committees and the
courts. But last week both sides met quietly—and the young lawyer came away with his
most lucrative victory yet. In an out-of-court settlement of his suit against G.M. for
invasion of privacy, the company agreed to pay Nader $425,000 in damages.
Nader charged four years ago that once G.M. heard of his investigation of the
automobile industry, which he was about to publicize in his book, Unsafe at Any Speed, the
company began a snooping operation of its own.
In his suit Nader complained that G.M. had hired a firm of private investigators, whose
detectives shadowed him, harassed him with threatening phone calls and interrogated his
acquaintances about his personal life. Attractive girls, Nader said, were used in
the hope of luring him into compromising sexual escapades. Though former G.M.
President James Roche apologized publicly for the harassment, he denied that he or other
G.M. governing officers knew about it. Last week, G.M. still insisted that the settlement
was only a convenience, not an admission of guilt.
The settlement, which Nader's lawyer claims to be the largest in the history of
invasion-of-privacy litigation, has hardly assuaged Nader's feelings toward G.M. He
announced that he would pour the funds into further monitoring of G.M.'s record on safety,
pollution and consumer relations. For the time being Nader's check has been deposited in
the First National City Bank—which he is currently investigating for discriminatory
loan and trust activities.
