Jury Cools Down Goodyear Heating Hose Class Action Lawsuit

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

Goodyear survived a rubber hose class action lawsuit after a jury found that the Class Members had not adequately pleaded their claims of a design defect in the home heating part.

The trial came after a federal judge certified a Colorado Class of more than 100 homeowners who alleged that they suffered damage or risked the same because of the faulty design of the Goodyear Entran 3 rubber hose forming part of a radiant heating system. They alleged in the class action lawsuit that the material’s composition led to premature cracking, leading to potential fluid leakage and adulterants into the system.

However, the Colorado jury did not even need to consider the defense theory that it wasn’t an issue with the Goodyear heating hose but rather the installation. In spite of testimony from an expert witness with materials engineering experience, they decided against the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit regarding a design defect.

The Colorado plaintiffs join several Wisconsin homeowners who a judge decided were not numerous enough to represent a statewide Class. However there are similar class action lawsuits pending in other states including in New Mexico and New England at various stages of the litigation process. They are likely to introduce evidence similar to that used in this case.

That would include failure due to the “use of EPDM rubber in Entran 3 to carry hot liquid for the lifetime of homes where the product was installed.” In addition, one expert witness in the Colorado class action lawsuit claimed that an analysis of the rubber hoses indicated that they were not uniformly constructed, increasing the likelihood of failure.

If the plaintiffs in the other Goodyear class action lawsuits are to succeed, they will not only need to demonstrate that the rubber hoses are likely to degrade and fail, but also that rubber heating hose failure will devalue a home due to a non-functional radiant heating system. They may also take advantage of the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals that allowed the Colorado class action lawsuit to move forward in the first place.

Lead plaintiff David Helmer is represented by class action attorneys Charles J. LaDuca, Michael James Flannery and Victoria Olegovna Romanenko of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP and Gary E. Mason of The Mason Law Firm LLP.

The Goodyear Home Heating Rubber Hose Class Action Lawsuit is David Helmer, et al. v. The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Case No. 12-cv-00685, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.