Judge Dismisses Most Claims in Uponor Pipe Defect Class Action

Judge Dismisses Most Claims in Uponor Pipe Defect Class Action

By Anne Bucher

A Nevada federal judge has dismissed the majority of claims against Uponor Inc. in a class action lawsuit accusing the company of manufacturing defective plumbing parts, but will allow the plaintiffs to revise the complaint.

On July 28, 2008, several Las Vegas homeowners filed the class action lawsuit against Uponor and other defendants, alleging the company manufactured defective yellow brass fittings (YBFs). The class action lawsuit was subsequently consolidated with other pending actions. The plaintiffs filed a third amended consolidated class action lawsuit seeking to represent thousands of similarly-situated homeowners in the Las Vegas Valley who allegedly suffered damages from owning homes with defective Wirsbo/Uponor brand plumbing products.

In their class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim that Uponor designed, manufactured and/or distributed defective Wirsbo YBFs that are allegedly prone to premature failure, leading to leaks, blockages, weeping, loss of strength, and other problems. The plaintiffs’ claims for relief included products liability; strict liability; breach of implied warranties of fitness for particular purpose, merchantability, habitability, quality and workmanship; failure to warn/instruct, negligent selection and negligent installation; unjust enrichment; violation of Nevada’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act (NDTPA); and declaratory relief. In response, Uponor filed a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit.

Last week, U.S. District Judge Nancy D. Freudenthal dismissed six claims and part of a seventh claim against Uponor, leaving only a subset of breach of warranty claims remaining in the putative class action lawsuit. The judge dismissed the plaintiffs’ claims for unjust enrichment, finding that the claim only applies in the absence of a legal contract and when a defendant has control of property it should not have. Because Uponor delivered and installed the pipe fittings, the judge ruled that the plaintiffs’ claims for unjust enrichment should be dismissed.

The remaining claims for relief in the class action lawsuit involve breach of implied warranties of fitness for purpose, merchantability, quality and workmanlike manner. Judge Freudenthal will allow the plaintiffs to file an amended class action lawsuit regarding their allegations that Uponor violated NDTPA, finding that they did not state which specific actions by Uponor violated the law. 

“The allegations are vague and fail to cite facts that would make a violation plausible,” the judge wrote. “The allegations just generally refer to defendant’s misrepresentations.”

Earlier this year, Uponor agreed to settle a similar class action lawsuit over allegations of defective brass insert fittings that led to leaks or pipe blockage. The deadline to file a claim for the RTI Plumb-PEX class action settlement is Dec. 26, 2013.

The plaintiffs are represented by J. Randall Jones of Kemp Jones & Coulthard LLP, Robert C. Maddox of Maddox Isaacson & Cisneros LLP, Scott K. Canepa of Canepa Riedy & Rubino, Charles Hopper of Lynch Hopper Salzano & Smith LLP and James D. Carraway of Carraway & Associates LLC.

The Uponor Pipe Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Edwin Slaughter, et al. v. Uponor Inc., et al., Case No. 2:08-cv-01223, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.

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