Goodman Air Conditioner Class Action May Cost $803M in Damages

Goodman Global Inc., the second largest HVAC manufacturer and distributor in the United States, has requested that a class action lawsuit it is facing be removed to federal court, indicating it may face up to $803 million in damages for the alleged sale of defective air conditioning units.

The lead plaintiff, Robert Kotsur, initially brought the Goodman air conditioner class action lawsuit in Bucks County Court of Common Pleas in Pennsylvania, alleging that Goodman’s air conditioners were defective. Kotsur alleged that the evaporator coils and heat pumps in his Goodman air conditioner unit leaked, and Goodman had been aware of the problem in all of its units since 2007.

“Goodman knew that the evaporator coils in the Goodman Units sold since 2007 were defective because the evaporator coils in these units were failing at rates that far exceeded the industry average. In addition. Goodman has received, and continues to receive, complaints from consumers and HVAC dealers, technicians, and contractors that its Goodman Units sold since at least January 2007 contain defective evaporator coils that improperly and prematurely leak refrigerant,” the class action lawsuit says.

Kotsur brought claims against Goodman for breach of express warranty, breach of an implied warranty of merchantability, violation of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, and unjust enrichment.

Goodman notes in its removal notice, “(1) there must be diversity, which occurs when any member of the class is a citizen of a state different from any defendant; (2) there must be 100 or more class members; and (3) the amount in controversy must exceed $5 million.”

As an initial matter, Goodman points out that “[Kotsur] seeks to represent a Class of supposedly similarly situated people on a statewide basis” and “[Goodman’s] Texas and Delaware citizenship clearly diverges from Plaintiff’s Pennsylvania citizenship.”

Second, “The requirement that the number of class plaintiffs must exceed 100 … is easily demonstrated by Plaintiff’s assertion that ‘the class is comprised of at least thousands of members geographically dispersed throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.'”

Finally, Goodman notes that Kotsur claims to have spent $2000 attempting to remedy his allegedly defective air conditioner unit and seeks to represent a Class of individuals who purchased Goodman air conditioning units in Pennsylvania since 2007.

According to Goodman in it’s Notice of Removal, this would amount to $803 million in damages. Goodman also points out the diversity of the class that would be represented in this class action.

“Sales records from 2007 through 2013 show that Goodman sold 391,313 residential air conditioners in Pennsylvania, which were used for personal, family, or household purposes,” Goodman states, and, “if each air conditioner is defective and there are potentially 391,313 Class Members, the amount in controversy would exceed $803 million.” Goodman also points out that “[m]oreover, Plaintiff also seeks attorneys’ fees, which must be considered as part of the analysis and would further increase the amount in controversy.”

The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation declined to centralize six putative class action lawsuits in December 2013.

Kotsur is represented by Jonathan Shub of Seeger Weiss LLP, Jonathan Tycko and Lorenzo Cellini of Tycko & Zavareei LLP and Gary Mason and Monica Bansal of Whitfield Bryson & Mason LLP.

The Goodman Air Conditioner Class Action Lawsuit is Robert Kotsur v. Goodman Global Inc., et al, Case No. 2:14-cv-01147, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.