Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.
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.
ATTORNEY ADVERTISING
Top Class Actions is a Proud Member of the American Bar Association
LEGAL INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE
Top Class Actions Legal Statement
©2008 – 2024 Top Class Actions® LLC
Various Trademarks held by their respective owners
This website is not intended for viewing or usage by European Union citizens.
84 thoughts on‘Scandalous’ Pella Window Class Action Settlement Overturned
My contractor installed 5 Pella proline doors and many windows in 2000. I have rot on two of the doors bottom panel. I contacted Pella and they can replace one door for a little more than I paid for a complete set including two doors and frames including the 2×6 extensions. I found Pella very hard to work with. I am retired now and to spend that kind of money to replace doors that have a manufacturers defect is very disturbing.
Similar story. 1994 Pella windows. At least 10 windows and sliding doors rotted at the bottom. Some so bad you can press and put a finger through them. Plus the rest seem like ticking time bombs. There is a Champion Sun Room on our home with multiple sets of patio doors (not Pella) all are fine. For whatever it is worth, I just filed out a form to be part of the Class Action, and since it was accepted, that should mean the class is still open. If you have Pro-Line windows contact Clifford Law Office in Chicago, Ill. There is a fairly simple form to fill out and it can be printed and mailed or done on-line. If you have Architect or Designer Pella windows I believe there is another firm handling similar litigation.
Just started investigating some of my windows when my wife couldn’t open it because the mechanism that pushes it open just pushed right into the rotted window frame. The aluminum cladding on the exterior of the window has a terrible seal that didn’t prevent rain from running down the glass and sealing into the bottom wooden sash. Im going to try my best to replace this piece of wood myself, but this is not what I expected. The rest of my house has Pella from the mid 70s and it is all still working and performing well.
Same story here. We replaced all original windows with Pella Proline double hung back in 95. All of them have black mold on the lower sash and are separating at the corners. I have not come across any that have completely rotted sashes, although all of them are black on the lower and side sashes. I have taken out and re-installed seven of them due to an addition project and for this reason, I was able to closely inspect each of them. I plan to pin them in the corner joints from the inside, re-finish the sashes and frames, and silicone caulk the exterior glass to the aluminum cladding in order to try to save them. We burn seasoned wood in an inside burner in the basement as sole heat source, and so we have extremely low humidity in the winter time, but we still get condensation on the inside of the glass near the sashes. The idea is that if they leak cold air around the edges from the outside, it could cause warmer moist air inside to condense on the glass. So stop the air leak and eliminate the condensation. Its a lot of work and they will never look like they used to. You cannot get all of the black staining off of the sashes because the wood is deeply stained. I would demand replacement of the upper and lower windows of each unit at least in order to be properly compensated by Pella.
I purchased my home last year and have found all the windows to be rotting out just as all the previous replies talk about. I need to get these windows replaced before winter sets in. Does anyone know if we can still file against this class action lawsuit? I have a Pella rep coming to my house this week and would like to know more about what recourse I have.
Every window in my home was replaced with Pella product over two major additions to my house. One casement 11years rotted and the crank mechanism fell out.. A large three panel fixture ( $12,000) with an over head transom was next to go… 13 years old. This wood rot begins before the warranty period expires but you do not know its is there until things start coming apart.. I was a plaintiff to this class action suit and nothing was done by Pella. The pictures have of the wood rot along the base of these panels and slider is horrific. I paid $900 for a new slider and have had to re-mediate the bases on both stationary panels. Oh yeah the casement window cost me another $400.00. I WILL NEVER BUY PELLA AGAIN… My hope is that someone will resurrect a new class action suit against this terrible manufacturer!!!!
Well I was shocked to hear of any lawsuit. We have a 2002 showcase home with Pella casement windows, patio door. We love them, but lately when we wash them, they never seem to get clean. I shined a flashlight at an angle, and all of them have a film inside. We do have a frost problem on one of our crankouts facing west in the master bedroom. So, I called the Pella service dept. and they are charging me 50$ up front to come out and just do an inspection. I will let you know what happens….
talked with a pella service rep about our rotting 1995 pro line windows yesterday. He recommended a cheaper way out would be to buy a window from box store rather than fixing the rotted ones. I just today found the lawsuit on this site. Is there still a course of action against pella ?
We built our house in 2002 and used all Pella Proline windows and doors throughout the house. Several of the windows on the front of our house are rotten on the bottom and others will not open and close properly. This has been an ongoing problem for several years. I spoke to our original sales person at Pella about this issue and this potential class action lawsuit and he dismissed them both. Please add me to the list of people interested in being included in this case.
I am also looking, my info was lost by both law firms, requiring me to resend everything 3 times. Now I can’t get a hold of anyone to answer my questions or confirm they have my file. This has been way to stressful and unfair that as the parties involved in this class action we can’t get one straight answer. This has been drug out long enough, it’s pissing me off the courts Continue to let this drag out. I have over 22,000 $ in damage I’m sick of waiting!