Rooms To Go $13.5M ForceField Class Action Settlement Gets Green Light

A Florida federal judge preliminarily approved a $13.5 million class action settlement over allegations that Rooms To Go urges customers to purchase its ForceField fabric protection plan but fails to apply the fabric protection before delivery as promised.

“The Court has conducted a preliminary assessment of the fairness, reasonableness and adequacy of the proposed Settlement and finds that it falls within the range of reasonableness meriting possible final approval,” U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn wrote in his Aug. 4 order.

According to the Rooms To Go class action lawsuit, Rooms To Go offers customers who purchase upholstered furniture the option of purchasing a ForceField Protection Plan. When customers purchase these plans, Rooms To Go will treat the furniture prior to delivery with a fabric or leather stain protectant. Rooms To Go also promises that, for three years after the application of the protectant, it will clean, reupholster or replace any furniture with stains that cannot be removed with the cleaner provided.

However, the plaintiffs allege Rooms To Go fails to apply the furniture protectant as promised. For example, plaintiff Kenny Triplett of North Carolina alleges he paid $49.99 for fabric protection for a recliner he purchased from Rooms To Go, but discovered that no furniture protectant had been applied to his furniture at all.

The judge granted certification to a nationwide Class of consumers who purchased at least one ForceField Fabric or Leather Protection Plan from Rooms To Go that cost more than $8.

Under the terms of the proposed Rooms To Go settlement, Class Members will be able to choose between a cash payment worth 10 percent of what they paid for the ForceField fabric protection, or a Rooms To Go voucher valued at 45 percent of what they paid for the fabric protection.

In addition to offering compensation to eligible Class Members, Rooms To Go has also agreed to retrain staff members responsible for applying fabric protection products to upholstered furniture.

If approved, this Rooms To Go settlement will resolve two similar class action lawsuits. The first, Hankinson, et al. v. R.T.G. Furniture Corp., was filed in 2015 in Florida federal court. The second, Triplett v. Rooms To Go North Carolina Corp. d/b/a Rooms To Go, et al., was filed in December 2016.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

The plaintiffs are represented by Douglas J. McNamara, Theodore J. Leopold, Leslie M. Kroeger, Diana L. Martin and Eric A. Kafka of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC.

The Rooms To Go Fabric Protection Class Action Lawsuits are Hankinson, et al. v. R.T.G. Furniture Corp., Case No. 9:15-cv-81139, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, and Triplett v. Rooms To Go North Carolina Corp. d/b/a/ Rooms to Go, R.T.G. Furniture Corp., Case No. 5:16-cv-00926, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

UPDATE: September 2017, the Rooms To Go ForceField Protection Class Action Settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.