Companies Face Drywall Price-Fixing Allegations

By Sarah Mirando | June 7, 2013

Category: Legal News

By Amanda Antell

drywall class action lawsuit USG Corp. and seven other drywall manufacturers have been sued for allegedly conspiring to fix prices for drywall since September 2011.

Primarily used in residential and commercial construction to make walls and ceilings, drywall is a panel made of gypsum plaster pressed between two thick sheets of paper. Drywall construction became known as a speedier alternative to traditional lath and plaster building materials. While plaster can take up to a week or more to apply in one section of a home, an entire house can be drywalled in one or two days. Though fire resistant, it is heavily damage by water. Because of its popular use by amateur carpenters, many of the product’s manufacturers are currently being investigated for a nationwide price-fixing conspiracy.

Price fixing is an agreement between two or more individuals in the same market to buy or sell a product, service, or commodity only at a fixed price. However, it can also involve maintaining the market conditions so that the price remains the same by controlling supply and demand. The intent of price fixing often to raise the price of the product as high as possible, leading to profits for all sellers, but they may also intend to fix, peg, discount, or stabilize prices. In the United States, price fixing is a federal offense under section one of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Sierra Drywall Systems Inc., a drywall installation company, claims in a class action lawsuit filed last year that the defendants violated federal antitrust laws, costing their customers tremendous amounts of money. Sierra Drywall is currently seeking unspecified financial damages for all people or entities that bought drywall from the defendants in the U.S. this year.

According to the class action lawsuit, USG and other collaborating drywall companies began telling customers in September 2011 that they would raise prices of the drywall products by as much as 35%. Around the same time, the companies also halted their practice of letting customers set their own prices during a construction project. The changes came about when the companies expected no increase in demand for their drywall products.

The main defendant in question is drywall manufacturer USG, whose largest shareholder is Warren BuffettÕs Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A). USG stated that the suit is baseless, and that the company participated in no illegal or harmful activity against their customers. The company denies being a part of any alleged conspiracy, and believes that its pricing decisions were, and will continue to be, in full compliance with the law.

USG is the leading supplier of drywall in the U.S., accounting for 25% of gypsum board sales in 2011. Other companies involved in the drywall antitrust class action lawsuit include Charlotte, North Carolina-based National Gypsum, Reston, Virginia-based Lafarge North America Inc., and Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific LLC.

Nancy Spurlock, a spokeswoman for National Gypsum, said the company has yet to be served with a class action lawsuit. Georgia Pacific and Lafarge have yet to comment at all about the price-fixing allegations.

If you believe that you’ve been the victim of drywall antitrust violations, you have legal options. Please visit Drywall Price Fixing Antitrust Class Action Lawsuit Investigation. There, you can submit your claim for a free legal review and if it qualifies for legal action, an experienced antitrust lawyer will contact you for a free, no-obligation consultation. You will be guided through the litigation process at no out-of-pocket expenses or hidden fees. The drywall attorneys working this investigation do not get paid until you do.