BATON ROUGE – Lumber Liquidators faces a lawsuit from Louisiana residents who claim they purchased its Chinese-made flooring materials, which allegedly leaked formaldehyde.
Theresa DeVillier and Earl and Shirley Wells, individually and on behalf of those similarly situated, filed a class-action suit on March 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana against the lumber company, citing redhibition, violation of the Louisiana Products Liability Act, unfair trade practices and consumer protection law.
The plaintiffs assert that they were misled by the defendant, who was alleged to falsely warrant, advertise and sell defective Chinese flooring. The plaintiffs allege that the flooring failed to meet industry standards and, as a result of improper oversight, leaked formaldehyde, which is a carcinogenic gas. Formaldehyde emissions from the floor boards were alleged to be multiple times the maximum permissible limits. The plaintiffs alleges that not only were they exposed to the dangerous gas emissions, but they were financially harmed by the actions of defendant as the flooring is markedly less valuable because of the defect.
The plaintiffs claim that, at all times, the defendant knew about the defect, yet willingly and deceptively engaged in the manufacturing, promoting, advertising, selling and distributing these alleged dangerous floorboards to consumers, violating consumer protection laws and breaching warranties.
They are now suing for actual, compensatory damages or, in the alternative, statutory damages, as well as exemplary damages, attorney fees, court costs, pre- and post-judgment interest, and any such further relief deemed proper by the court. They are demanding a jury trial and are represented by Kevin Klibert, Salvadore Christina Jr. and Matthew B. Moreland from Becnel Law Firm LLC in Reserve and Morris Bar and Mekel Alvarez from Morris Bart LLC in New Orleans.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana Case number 3:16-cv-00139-JWD-EWD