Kim Gale  |  December 28, 2018

Category: Consumer News

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Interior Molded Masonite Doors Allegedly Worked with Jeld-Wen to Rig PricesIf your company bought Masonite doors to sell at your retail outlet, you could be owed money.

Masonite Corp. and Jeld-Wen doors are accused of committing antitrust violations through a series of business maneuvers over the years, according to a lawsuit filed by Grubb Lumber Co. Inc.

Masonite and Jeld-Wen are both the largest interior molded door makers in North America with a total 85 percent share of the interior door market. They also are the only companies that make doorskins, which are the wrap-around high-density fibrous mats that give the doors the look and finish of real, painted wood with a raised panel design.

Doorskins allow pressed wood and hollow doors to weigh much less than solid wood, which makes the lighter doors cheaper and simpler to ship.

According to Masonite’s website, its interior wood panel doors are made of medium density fiberboard with wood veneer (doorskin) laminated to the outside surface. The vertical and horizontal portions of the doors “typically feature wood veneers laminated to edge-glued wood substrates.”

Masonite announced in 2014 that the company would quit selling its doorskins to other door makers–an alleged violation of antitrust laws, according to the plaintiff.

That left Jeld-Wen as the only doorskin manufacturer willing to sell doorskins to other interior door manufacturing companies. Jeld-Wen purportedly began making cheaper-quality doorkskins, but raised prices at the same time because the company knew it was the only game in town.

Competing door manufacturers had no choice but to pay the inflated prices for allegedly inferior products or start manufacturing their own doorskins, the lawsuit says.

Jeld-Wen’s pursuit of cheaper manufacturing processes and Masonite’s decision to stop selling its doorskins to other door manufacturers were not a coincidence, says the lawsuit.

Masonite doors and Jeld-Wen doors allegedly combined forces to acquire many smaller manufacturers of interior molded doors since 2001, even after the Justice Department questioned the level of diversity in the market in 2001.

The companies are accused of forming a deal in October 2012 to fix prices. Masonite doors and Jeld-Wen doors allegedly took turns raising prices and then matching the other company’s prices since the 2012 agreement was made.

How Did Masonite Doors Allegedly Violate Antitrust Laws?

All goods and services need healthy competition in order to ensure consumers can choose from quality products and services at competitive prices. Retailers buy their stores’ supplies from manufacturers in order to offer consumers a range of qualities at a range of prices.

When manufacturers collude to rig prices, the retailers spend more money to fill their shelves. In order to make a profit, the retailer passes the expense on to the consumers.

Retailers who are forced to pay an inflated price to Jeld-Wen and Masonite are at risk for suffering a tarnished reputation when consumers see the same decline in product quality, but increase in price.

If you bought Masonite doors or Jeld-Wen doors from either manufacturer since October 2012, you could be eligible to participate in this class action lawsuit investigation.

Join a Free Interior Molded Doors Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If you own or work for a company that sold Jeld-Wen and/or Masonite interior molded doors from October 2012 to the present or if you purchased the doors from a retailer, you may have been the victim of an antitrust price-fixing conspiracy. Legal help is available.

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