New Ashley Furniture Class Action Filed Over Quality of DuraBlend

Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. has been hit with another class action alleging the company’s DuraBlend upholstery is not fit for ordinary use.

Lead plaintiff Alex Isaac filed a class action lawsuit against the home furnishings company as well as Bargain Discount Markets Inc. alleging that DuraBlend is marketed as a durable leather product; however, DuraBlend furniture is not durable and is prone to peeling and disintegrating.

“Ashley and BD marketed DuraBlend upholstery as durable blended leather,” alleges the Ashley Furniture class action lawsuit. “Indeed, its name is a combination of the words durable and blended, supporting a reasonable consumer’s belief that the DuraBlend upholstery is both durable, and of similar quality, strength, and durability of leather.”

Isaac claims Ashley Furniture began marketing DuraBlend in 2008 as a leather substitute, with the same quality, strength and durability. The plaintiff says that he purchased a DuraBlend sectional sofa for about $1,100 in 2012 based on this marketing.

Contrary to Ashley’s marketing claims, the upholstery on the plaintiff’s sofa began to peel and disintegrate with normal use starting in 2015, alleges the class action lawsuit. The plaintiff says that he contacted Ashley about the disintegration of the DuraBlend sofa, but the store refused to issue a full refund.

This is the second class action to hit Ashley Furniture over DuraBlend. In November of last year, a plaintiff in Florida alleged Ashley “falsely, deceptively or misleadingly promoted, marketed, advertised, and sold furniture with DuraBlend.”

According to the class action complaint, “Ashley provided, disseminated, marketed, advertised or otherwise distributed false, deceptive or misleading information about the true nature, quality, or durability of the DuraBlend upholstery; and failed to disclose material information, or made material misrepresentations about, DuraBlend upholstery in connection with its promotion, marketing, advertising, and sale of that product.”

Ashley sold a variety of DuraBlend furniture, including sofas, loveseats, sections, and ottomans, says the plaintiff. These were marketed as “blended leather products,” alleges the complaint. The lawsuit includes a picture of the plaintiff’s cracked and peeling sectional sofa. Isaac alleges that he and other consumers would not have purchased or paid a much lower price for their DuraBlend furniture if they had known it was prone to peeling and disintegrating under normal use.

The plaintiff in the most recent class action seeks to represent a Class of Massachusetts residents who purchased DuraBlend furniture from Ashley Furniture. The plaintiff alleges that the company violated Massachusetts advertising law.

“Here, Defendants [sic] represented that furniture with DuraBlend upholstery sold to Mr. Isaac and other members of the class had characteristics that it does not have and that it was of a particular standard, quality, or grade, when in fact [it] was of lesser standard, quality, and grade,” alleges the Ashley Furniture class action lawsuit.

Isaac is represented by Josh Gardner and Nicholas J. Rosenberg of Gardner & Rosenberg PC.

The Ashley Furniture DuraBlend False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Alex Isaac v. Ashley Furniture Industries Inc. and Bargain Discount Markets Inc., Case No. 1:17-cv-11827, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

UPDATE: The Ashley Furniture DuraBlend False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit was dismissed on October 27, 2017. Top Class Actions will let our viewers know if a new complaint is filed.