Foam Cos. to Pay $128.5M to Settle Foam Antitrust Class Action

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Last week, a settlement agreement was reached in the class action lawsuit accusing Carpenter Co., Leggett & Platt Inc. and several other foam manufacturing companies of conspiring to inflate prices in an antitrust agreement.

In January of 2011, lead plaintiffs, including direct and indirect purchasers of foam material, alleged that various foam manufacturing companies, including Carpenter, Leggett & Platt, Hickory Spring Manufacturing Co., Mohawk Industries Inc., Vitafoam Inc., and Woodbridge Foam Corp. entered into deals to keep the costs of their product high that violated antitrust laws. The companies produce various types of foam, including polyurethane foam that is used as cushioning and insulation in products such as bedding, packaging, flooring and cars.

The indirect purchasers filed a motion with Ohio federal court to preliminarily approve six foam antitrust settlement agreements; one with each defendant foam company. “The settlement agreements between [indirect purchasers] and the settling defendants are in the best interests of the classes and merit this court’s preliminary approvals,” they wrote in their filing.

Under the terms of the foam antitrust settlement agreements, Carpenter will pay nearly half of the settlement amount: $63.5 million. Leggett & Platt will pay $26.5 million, while Mohawk will pay $16 million. Additionally, Hickory Springs will pay $10.25 million, while Woodbridge will pay $9.5 million, and Vitafoam will pay $2.75 million.

“The Settlement Agreements arise from extensive arms’-length and good-faith negotiations between Class Counsel and counsel for the respective Settling Defendants,” the plaintiffs say in their motion. “Some of those negotiations were face-to-face in Chicago and Boston and included numerous telephone conversations between counsel and often with the mediator, as needed,” they continue.

According to the documents filed with the court, the foam companies will still face liability for damages caused by the shady deals, for example, sales by the companies at allegedly fixed process under the deals.

The direct purchaser plaintiffs, including foam, packaging, and carpet companies, had agreed to settle their class action lawsuit claims in April as the case was about to go to trial. That class action settlement agreement amounted to $433.1 million.

Both the Sixth Circuit and Supreme Court refused the defendant foam companies’ attempts to appeal the case.

Further information about the foam antitrust class action settlement with the indirect purchasers was not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The indirect purchasers are represented by lead counsel Miller Law LLC and others.

The Foam Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit is In re: Polyurethane Foam Antitrust Litigation, Case No. 1:10-md-02196, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.

UPDATE: If you purchased a product that contains flexible polyurethane foam, such a couch, mattress or carpet padding, you may be entitled to a cash payment from a class action settlement. Find out more here or visit www.PolyFoamClassAction.com for details.

UPDATE 2: On Nov. 20 2017, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail from the polyfoam indirect purchaser class action settlement worth as much as $234. Congratulations to everyone who filed a valid claim and got PAID!