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The 7th U.S. Court of Appeals has overturned the Pella window class action settlement after finding that the attorneys for the Class Members were set up to benefit substantially at the expense of the class. “In this case, despite the presence of objectors, the district court approved a class action settlement that is inequitable—even scandalous,” the appellate court said.
The Pella window class action lawsuit was initially filed nearly eight years ago by plaintiff Leonard E. Saltzman. It alleged that Pella Corp.’s “ProLine Series” casement windows manufactured and sold between 1991 and 2006 had a design defect that allowed water to seep behind the aluminum cladding and caused wood rot. Four other Class Members were eventually added as plaintiffs in the Pella class action lawsuit.
The Pella window settlement was reached in 2012 and approved last year by a federal judge. The class action settlement granted $11 million in attorneys’ fees and purported to provide $90 million to Class Members. However, “the claim forms are so complicated that Pella could reject many of them on the ground that the claimant had not filled the form out completely and correctly,” the appellate court said. Further, many Class Members were only offered a coupon to be used for future window purchases, which may not be worth much to them.
“The restrictions that Pella was allowed to place on the settlement would, if upheld, enormously reduce the Class Members’ recovery of their losses, and the residue is to be returned to Pella,” the appellate court said.
According to the 7th Circuit, the four other named plaintiffs opposed the Pella class action settlement when it had been presented to the district court for preliminary approval. Saltzman was the only plaintiff to support it. The plaintiffs in opposition were subsequently removed and four others who supported the class action settlement were added in their place. The initial class action settlement agreement reportedly only offered incentive awards to the class representative who approved the settlement. “This created a conflict of interest: any class representative who opposed the settlement would expect to find himself without any compensation for his services as representative,” the appellate court noted.
Out of more than 225,000 Class Members, only 1276 had submitted claims as of February 2013. These claims were worth just $1 million. Although nearly 10,000 more claims were filed after the Pella class action settlement was approved, “there is no evidence that Pella would pay the maximum benefits on all, or indeed on any, of the claims,” the appellate court said. “We just don’t understand the judge’s valuing the settlement at $90 million or thinking the feeble efforts of class counsel … to obtain benefits for the class (as distinct from benefits for themselves in the form of generous attorneys’ fees) worth $11 million.”
The appellate court further noted that Paul M. Weiss, lead counsel for the class, was Saltzman’s son-in-law, creating “a grave conflict of interest.” Although the class action settlement agreement also designates another firm as lead counsel, the class action settlement terms “gave lead class counsel ‘sole discretion’ to allocate the award of attorneys’ fees to which the parties had agreed among the class counsel, and Weiss proposed to allocate 73 percent of the fees to his own firm,” the appellate court said. Further, Pella allegedly agreed to advance $2 million in attorneys’ fees to lead class counsel even before notice of the Pella class action settlement had been sent to Class Members.
“Class counsel sold out the class,” the three-judge panel concluded.
The following statement has been posted on the Settlement Administrator’s website: “On June 2, 2014, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the District Court’s approval of the Settlement previously reached in Saltzman v. Pella. If a party to the litigation so chooses, it has until June 16, 2014 to seek rehearing at the Court of Appeals. Additionally, if a party so chooses, it has 90 days to petition the U.S. Supreme Court for review. If no party seeks rehearing, the 90 days will run from June 2, 2014. If any party to the litigation seeks rehearing, the 90 days will run from the Court of Appeals resolution of any motion for rehearing.”
The Pella Window Class Action Lawsuit is Saltzman v. Pella Corporation, et al., Case no. 06-cv-4481, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
UPDATE: On Feb. 8, 2018, after years in court, Pella Corporation agreed to pay close to $26 million to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged a line of its windows leaked and caused wood rot.
UPDATE 2: On March 23, 2018, the revised Pella ProLine windows defect class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.
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84 thoughts on‘Scandalous’ Pella Window Class Action Settlement Overturned
Built home in 1996 in northern Wisconsin. Contractor installed 11 Pella Pro line double hung windows. Wood inside, aluminum clad outside. Windows started freezing up below zero. Windows had 1/8\ to 1/4\ thick ice covering the lower sash. Pella \inspector\ came out twice in 2 years. I was told that it looks like window insulation is missing but they were installed properly. The second inspector said that since the temperature in the house wasn’t exactly the same as when I first called Pella, there was nothing he could do. What a joke. Now, every year we have to repair the drywall in every room because of the water damage. The window frames are thick, black mold. We took a lot of pictures and even hired an attorney to send everything to Pella. They didn’t even acknowledge us. Please add us to the next Pella lawsuit.
And it goes on and on. We built our home in 2001 with pella pro series windows and out story is much the same as the others. A few weeks ago my wife opened one of the windows for whatever reason and the whole bottom behind the aluminum was just disintegrated. We have sort got it set back in and taped with good ol duct tape. I checked the rest of the window and a good portion are rotted to variant degrees. Pella was most helpful. The rep assured me this was not their fault and that I should contact Home Depot even tho I purchased the windows directly from Pella. And then I started looking on the internet and found out about the class action lawsuit, etc. I knew absolutely nothing about this and It seems if Pella had responded to this problem when they became aware a lot of pain could have been avoided. I too want to be include in any action that will bring a positive response from Pella.
Built home 1999 pella pro series windows at least 5/6 windows are rotted on bottom cranks fell out! More are getting there! Disgusted in product! Please can I be included in lawsuit?
Well, this is some good Saturday morning reading. We built our house in 1997 and our 1st problem with our Pella products was with the sliding door in the kitchen. With the slider being on the outside we had no way to secure it (most people lay a board in the track when the slider is on the inside so it cannot be forced open) In December of 97 they broke into our house through that slider. The burglars forced the door open and proceeded to rob our house. That is when we learned about that defect….the hard way. Then we did have one window replaced while it was still under warranty because it had rotted. Now we have 6 windows that we cant open because if you do you will not be able to get them closed again. I was never notified about a recall. I found out about it last night while talking about my windows to a customer. He told me that he was contacted which made me google it this morning and OH MY what i found. I will throw my hat into the ring but I am not hopefull for any kind of compensation. When larger corporations make a mistake, they just CAN NOT admit that they did something wrong. They have lots of money and lawyers and it usually means that if there is a settlement the people with the defective product might see a dollar or two by the time its all said and done. For example, We could have recieved 6 dollars from a large banking company once if we wanted to fill out about 6 hours of paperwork also when my husbands company closed this office without notice and went to court, when it was all done we recieved thirteen dollars. Best of luck to all involved. It would be refreshing if this actually made it through the legal system with a reasonable settlement. I will turn it over now and go on to enjoy my day and wish you the same.
We filed a claim in 2013 on windows installed in 1998. Virtually all have rotted and failed. I am trying to find the current status of this claim since the settlement was overturned. Anyone have an answer?
Had no idea that rotting Pella windows was a widespread problem. We just ordered two 3-unit casement window replacements due to rotting wood. When I asked the Pella Reps at my home about the rot, they changed the subject. Then I thought maybe I better research it a little online. We need to be included in the new class action suit and hopefully recoup some of the $10,000+ we just spent. Greed drives large companies to not accept responsibility for selling junk labelled as gold. Sad sad sad.
please contact me as to the class action litigation. in september 2014 i had a proline winsow replaced because of rotting wood. i hav epictures of the window and pictures of the constrution opening. the construction was dry the windows rotted. it cost me $4200. last month i noticed anoter casement window with the samr issue- the sales person gave me an estimate of $3300. i did a deeper investigation and founf the one i relpaced last year is identical to the on on the right side of my fireplace and now that other is rotting in the same fashion…another $4200-no way. i also took pictures of a case ment window it too is rotten and there is my dinning room 3 pc window showing beginneing signs of rot. my home was built in 2001. i am desperate and need help. i cannot afford over $22,000 for what i thought was the cadilac of windows and pella acknowledges the problem.–lease help me
I’ve read every comment here, and its numbing to read. Here in WI, I purchased a home in late 2004 that was originally built in 1998. Yes, every window is a Pella Proline. When it gets extremely cold in the winter (especially anything below 0), the frost builds up around the edges, and the moisture penetrates into the wood frame, and you know the rest… One window has completely failed due to dry rot, and many others are black along the edges, mostly at the bottom. I want to sell my home now, but everything hinges on this window issue. I obviously have to disclose this problem and have to decide to either replace or what kind of an allowance I would include for replacements should I get an offer. After reading all these comments, I am not optimistic about pursuing any type of claim. If anyone else has similar experiences, especially when trying to sell a home with this issue, please feel free to comment. Thanks!
How sad to see this never ending problem where homeowners were hung out to dry. We built our house in 2003 and had over 40 of these same defective casement windows installed. When the notice came about the class action suit we had already replaced 10 of these windows, fortunately for us it was within the warranty period so Pella replaced the windows but wanted to charge for installation. We found a reputable contractor who came and installed the replacements, rechecked all the windows and sealed the bottom of the windows where the defect was. And for the past 4 years no other issues. We spent the time to document everything and had copies of all the Pella replacement paperwork for the defective windows and to now hear that this case was thrown out is disgusting to say the least. The fact that the original complainant and his son in law were trying to take a real problem and make money on it is further disgusting. I will try to find the attorney that is now handling it but I am not sure it is worth more of my time at this point.
I too have rotted windows but unlike you all above me they are Marvin.. Do some more research before you trash a company.. I am sure none of you know that 90% of all window failure is due to bad installation.. I bet none of you also know that window failure happens due to lack of maintenance in any window manufacturer.. Read up on any other window company and you will find bad reviews from salty homeowners.. Only difference is that one guy and his son in law tried to profit from it and the courts saw through it.. And if not for the potential to get something out of it none of you would be bitching on a public forum.. Look around.. I would be willing to bed there are more issues with your homes but only difference is there is no potential benefit so you don’t write about it.. Sorry for your luck but stop crying and figure it out.. My window failure has cost me thousands but I knew that buying a home was a risk and an investment.. Are you going to blast Chevy when your engine blows and warranty is up? I have a feeling that answer is yes.. Maybe Saltzman (or whatever the guy’s name is) will hook you up to get new windows? Stop whining.. You are embarrassing your family..
Mr Matthew– you are wrong on a lot of counts. Perhaps you might consider doing some research yourself… I have rotted Pella windows, a Pella tech inspected them and agreed they were installed correctly per the mfg directions. HOWEVER, those directions dont say to preserve and seal the exposed wood hidden under the outer rubber windlacing. This 1/8 strip of wood is plain pine, and exposed to water drips without ANY seal, preservative or warning about that lack. I have 75 year old windows in my house that mostly are intact and in working order. Pella really dropped the ball here. They on the other hand are slowly working with me to replace them at their cost. By contrast, Jenn-Weld windows have aluminum cladding on ALL portions of the window exposed to water, and they have a preservative in the wood. Cost aproximately the same. I expect a high cost item like a window system to last the life of the building. Or be easy to repair or maintain. Your BS about maintaining windows is way out of line– If the instructions dont mention it. And once the rot starts what next? paint over rotting wood? In short you are the embarassment..
exactly along with humidity levels in the house. shades lowered in sub zero weather. lack of lube on movable parts silicone etc NOT oil based