Lumber Liquidators Flooring Defect Class Action Overview:
- Who: Lumber Liquidators has been hit with a class action lawsuit over its bamboo flooring.
- What: The suit alleges that the flooring is defective, warping, splitting, and cracking soon after installation.
- Where: The suit is for consumers nationwide.
Lumber Liquidators’ Morning Star Strand Bamboo Flooring is subject to premature cracking, splitting, warping, and shrinking, all well before the misleading warranted useful life, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
The claim was filed in Arkansas on September 9 by lead plaintiffs Larry and Kathy Fluharty who allege that Lumber Liquidators violated state and federal laws by selling the defective product and not addressing their almost immediate concerns. They are seeking damages from the company.
Defective Lumber Liquidators Flooring Covered by Substandard Warranty
Lumber Liquidators says in its marketing that the flooring is durable and meets industry standards, and markets and warrants it as having a fifty 50 year warranty, implying that is the lifespan of the product.
However, the Fluhartys claim that is far from the truth. According to the class action, the couple visited their local Lumber Liquidators in July 2020 to inquire about flooring products and were directed to Morning Star Strand Bamboo Flooring.
During the sales associate’s pitch, he described how the flooring was made, discussed the quality of the materials used, discussed the high quality of manufacture, and said the product was “indestructible” and would not dent, the lawsuit alleges.
“To support this claim, the sales associate repeatedly struck a sample of the Product with a separate sample made of oak in an attempt to show that the oak sample would dent, but the bamboo-based Product would not sustain damage.”
According to the claim, the sales associate went on to explain to the Fluhartys that the flooring had a lengthy 50-year warranty, knowing that the couple were purchasing the flooring to install into their home that they intended to sell immediately upon completion of their remodeling project.
However, the sales associate concealed from the Fluhartys that the warranty was non-transferrable and would not protect a subsequent purchaser of the home, the claim alleges.
Within weeks of installation, and while the property remained unoccupied — but climate controlled — the Fluhartys noticed defects with the flooring in that it began to warp and develop visible cupping along each board.
As the issue got worse, the couple claims they repeatedly tried to seek redress from the company who either dismissed or ignored them. Eventually they complained to the Attorney General’s office, who advised them to take photos of the flooring then rip it up.
However, Lumber Liquidators then came back to the couple and said they were ineligible to claim given the flooring had been ripped up.
The Fluhartys want to represent a nationwide and Arkansas class of consumers. They are suing for violations of state trade and consumer protection laws, and breach of warranty and fraud. They seek certification of the Class, injunctive relief, restitution, legal fees and costs, and a jury trial.
No stranger to legal action, Lumber Liquidators Inc. was hit with a dozen class action lawsuits in Louisiana in 2016 alleging the national hardwood company sold Chinese-made laminate flooring that contains dangerous levels of formaldehyde. The company paid $36 million to end such claims in 2017.
Have you ever used flooring from Lumber Liquidators? Tell us about your experience in the comments section below!
The Fluhartys are represented by Aaron Heffington and Dylan Potts of Gill Ragon Owen, P.A. and Derek Potts of The Potts Law Firm, LLP.
The Lumber Liquidators Dodgy Flooring Class Action Lawsuit is Larry Fluharty v. Lumber Liquidators, Inc., Case No. 4:21-cv-00800-BRW in the U.S. District Court Eastern District of Arkansas Central Division.
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69 thoughts onLumber Liquidators Sells Defective Bamboo Flooring, Fails To Address Damages, Class Action Lawsuit Alleges
I purchased the replacement product of LL Flooring Morning Star bamboo flooring, Aqua Seal bamboo Flooring and am having exactly same problem, of course LL Flooring claims the material is not defective(it’s terrible), I need to explore all avenues of action.
Please add me to the LL Morning Star Brand Bamboo Flooring class action suit. In 2021 my wife and I purchased a condominium in Dracut Ma that we had completely renovated, which included removing the wall to wall ruging throughout the unit. We researched floating flooring options and selected the all Morning Star Bamboo flooring based upon their 50 yr warranty and scratch resistance and durability in the literature LL provided on its website and a discussion with a salesperson at their Nashua NH store. We had our contractor follow the installation instructions letting the flooring sit on site to adjust to the climate of the unit. The flooring was installed and within 2 weeks, it started to warp/cup and edges lift. The original contractor denied responsibility and stopped responding to my phone/text contact attempts necessitating the hiring a second contractor who had me purchase more of the bamboos flooring, installed it with basically the same result with the added issue of a few of the boards splitting near the end and the flooring is also definitely not scratch resistant. I am now looking at replacing all of the bamboo flooring throughout the unit, with the second contractor agreeing to lay the flooring at minimal cost. My experience is frustrating to say the least. I just happened to hear about the previous LL class action law suit that was settled in 2019 and thought I was out of luck until discovering this new class action suit and hope I can join and recoup some of the money I put out for this defective product.