The Lumber Liquidators lawsuit has several important issues surrounding it. While the company has been settling with consumers for $36 million, the allegations are still very real. The company has denied the allegations and settled with customers but has failed to address the issue of formaldehyde. A recent 60 Minutes interview claimed that formaldehyde was present in many of the company’s products. Regardless of whether or not it was intentional, there is no way to know if the company is doing anything wrong.
Sullivan’s F9 Properties LLC
The new lawsuit against Cabinets To Go is a blow to Sullivan’s business plan. The company is in the process of suing for $10 million in damages over an agreement struck with Lumber Liquidators in 2010. Sullivan was chairman and largest shareholder of the company at the time of the agreement. In February, he and his partners filed a lawsuit against the company, claiming it breached its lease.
The suit against Lumber Liquidators was the first to make public disclosure of the company’s financial problems. Sullivan, the company’s founder, and chairman has strongly denied accusations of financial fraud. However, he has been linked to El Com, the company that owns a luxury hotel and condo complex in Bal Harbour. This company has already been the subject of three other lawsuits, each claiming damages of more than $20 million. In the latest case, Sullivan’s F9 Properties LLC is named as a defendant.
CDC
In a recent lawsuit, the CDC claimed that the company did not follow safety standards for its Chinese laminate flooring, even though the company had a clearance sale for affected products. Lumber Liquidators said in a statement that the company had questioned all its suppliers and had evidence that it complied with California Air Resources Board standards. The company also said that it had stopped selling Chinese laminate, which had been banned by the California Air Resources Board.
A 60 Minutes report last year found that the company did not follow federal consumer safety guidelines, and the CDC has now filed a criminal complaint against them. The group says the retailer sold flooring that was full of harmful levels of formaldehyde and used wood that was illegally harvested. The company is also being investigated by federal regulators for selling wood that is not certified as safe. The lawsuits also allege that Lumber Liquidators violated the Lacey Act, which requires companies to provide explicit warnings to consumers.
60 Minutes
A CBS television program, 60 Minutes, is investigating the lawsuit of Lumber Liquidators over alleged misrepresentations about its suppliers. The lawsuit was filed after a former inspector claimed that suppliers offered him and other employees bribes. Lumber Liquidators has denied the allegations and reassured customers that it complies with CARB regulations. It also plans to initiate a clearance sale of affected products.
According to 60 Minutes, the company knew that its main Chinese supplier did not meet state formaldehyde emission standards. But the company lied to investors by claiming that the people who were in the undercover video were not factory workers. And the company hid internal information that showed that its flooring released too much formaldehyde to be sold in California. In addition to misleading investors, Lumber Liquidators halted sales of flooring sourced from China.
Class action lawsuit
The plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Lumber Liquidators are seeking $7 million in a settlement. They claim that the flooring retailer denied overtime pay and improperly classified employees as exempt. The lawsuit was filed by former store managers, who claim they were wrongly denied overtime pay for nonmanagerial duties. Although the company has not commented on the case, it’s important to note that employees are entitled to overtime pay and other benefits that are consistent with the job description.
The class action lawsuit against Lumber Liquidators was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California. Plaintiffs in the suit claimed that the Chinese-manufactured laminate flooring was contaminated with toxic formaldehyde. According to the California Air Resources Board, the manufacturer’s products exceeded the threshold for formaldehyde toxicity. The CARB is a federal agency that disseminates safety standards. The company was ordered to correct the issue, but the California court ordered that the plaintiffs refile the lawsuits. Some plaintiffs refiled their lawsuits in other district courts, including those in Mississippi.
Settlement amount
In a recent lawsuit against lumber liquidators, the manufacturer of Morning Star Strand Bamboo Flooring, has settled out of court with the plaintiffs, admitting no fault in the flooring company’s actions. In a motion seeking preliminary approval of the settlement, the plaintiffs claim that the deal is the culmination of four years of litigation, spanning two motions for dismissal, mediation, and a complex discovery phase. The settlement is worth up to $1.6 million, and the plaintiffs have a deadline of July 15, 2020, to submit their claims.
The Lumber Liquidators’ settlement amount is still not an unlimited sum of money, but it will help settle many claims that were not resolved in court. The settlement covers a wide variety of products, including bamboo flooring, but it does not include the entire cost of the product. Lumber Liquidators have agreed to compensate Class Member consumers who purchased Morning Star Strand Bamboo flooring between Jan. 1, 2012, and March 15, 2019. Some of the consumers who filed the lawsuit spent thousands of dollars, but only received a small fraction of what they paid.