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Six Shop-Vac False Advertising Class Action Lawsuits Consodlidated By Kimberly Mirando
A number of class action lawsuits have been filed against Shop-Vac Corp. and Lowe’s Companies, Inc. alleging they exaggerated the horsepower of Shop-Vac wet-dry vacuums. The cases have been consolidated in Pennsylvania federal court to be heard as a multidistrict litigation.
The new Shop-Vac false ad lawsuit MDL combines six class action lawsuits filed by consumers who say Shop-Vac overstated the strength and performance of its wet-dry vacuum cleaners, as well as their tank capacity. More specifically, the Shop-Vac class action lawsuits claim that independent laboratory testing revealed that the vacuums were only able to generate a small fraction of the advertised horsepower, and that the tanks were on average only about 64% as large as advertised. The class action lawsuits also name Lowe’s as a Defendant, which sells a series of Shop-Vac vacuums exclusively through its stores.
On August 15, 2012, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) found that the six Shop-Vac false advertising class action lawsuits have enough in common to be combined.
“Plaintiffs in these actions allege that defendants misrepresented or misled consumers as to the ‘peak horsepower’ ratings of the wet/dry vacuums, that the vacuums produce materially less ‘peak horsepower’ than has been represented by defendants, and that the term ‘peak horsepower’ is itself misleading in light of the actual operation of the vacuums under normal usage conditions,” the six-member panel wrote in its decision.
“Centralization will avoid duplicative discovery, eliminate the risk of inconsistent pretrial rulings on class certification and other pretrial matters, and conserve the resources of the parties, their counsel, and the judiciary,” the order states. “Centralization also will facilitate efficient resolution of complex scientific and technical questions and will streamline discovery with respect to plaintiffs’ independent laboratory testing.”
The Shop-Vac vacuum class action lawsuit is seeking to represent all U.S. consumers who purchased any Shop Vac Wet-Dry vacuum, and a subclass of those who purchased the vacuums at Lowe’s.
The consolidated Shop-Vac False Ad Class Action Lawsuit case is In Re: Shop-Vac Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, MDL No. 2380, Middle District of Pennsylvania.
UPDATE: On Apr. 1, 2016, a proposed settlement has been reached after years of litigation between Shop-Vac, Lowe’s and a group of plaintiffs who allege the companies misrepresent the horsepower rating and canister size measurement of Shop-Vac’s vacuums.
UPDATE 2: The Shop-Vac class action settlement is now open! Click here for more details!
Updated September 14th, 2012
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
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4 thoughts onSix Shop-Vac False Advertising Class Action Lawsuits Consodlidated
UPDATE 2: The Shop-Vac class action settlement is now open! Click here for more details!
UPDATE: On Apr. 1, 2016, a proposed settlement has been reached after years of litigation between Shop-Vac, Lowe’s and a group of plaintiffs who allege the companies misrepresent the horsepower rating and canister size measurement of Shop-Vac’s vacuums.
Mine worked fine for the first time and that was it.Very sluggish and strange noises.
THIS vac do not seem to act right at all.I would have took it back but I could not find my receipt.