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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
Wow! I stumbled across this while doing a google search for replacement Pella sashes like Josh did (People can probably guess why as he said…). My issue reads exactly like most others. Our house was remodeled in 2002-3 and we used Proline casement windows now we have rot on the bottom of some of the sashes. Is there any pending litigation or course of action? I just had Pella out to quote replacement sashes and the technician mentioned nothing of the problem with this series of windows. I feel duped, but I need the windows fixed or they will continue to rot.
Pissed at Pella, we built our house in 2000 and it has 6 large casement windows facing the south and they are all rotten. I contacted Pella the in 2001 with concerns I had. The contractor that installed them passed away next day and I thought I was left hanging. Now that read these I realize it was Pella not my contractor. It’s raining tonight and I have rain dripping on my floor because of Pellas rotten wood. What hat can we do? Besides spend $10,000.00 on new Pella Windows?
I have 14 Pella pro-line casements with rotted wood bottom failure. They were installed in 1999 and started to disintegrate by 2010. In some cases I rebuilt the sash with some nice oak until I could save enough money for replacements. I finally had a sales guy come out and he advised to contact Pella service for a quote on replacement sashes. Heck yea I want in on the lawsuit! For years I’ve been caulking, foaming, rebuilding these pos Windows. 2 things I noticed. 1 interior core made of very cheap open grain southern pine. 2 the cladding is backwards allowing water to seep in corners and rot bottoms of sash. Keep in mind I silicone sealed the corners but to no avail since the rotting and moisture was already inside sash. Pella should be ashamed of this product. So now I await a quote on replacement sash for ~32×52 casements. If anyone from Pella reads this I hope you are proud that for 6 years I have been saving money to replace your defective casement windows….and now you get to sell me replacement sashes!! Good job! Brilliant business plan to take advantage of honest unsuspecting people. At at least I can sleep good at night knowing I’m not an unethical POS window manufacturer.
My house was built in 1994 using Pella Proline for all windows and sliders. One slider was replaced about ten years ago with another Proline. The new one is rotted at the bottom , as is the other slider A number of the other windows have rotting as well. I would like to get in on any new court action.
Wow! I stumbled across this while doing a google search for replacement Pella sashes (People can probably guess why…). My issue reads exactly like most others. Our house was built in 1998. Recently, I have noticed black discoloration at the bottom of numerous sashes, as well as condensation on the inside of some windows, despite low humidity. Inspection revealed two sashes with the bottoms completely rotted. In the spring, I intend to attempt what another poster did (silicone between the window and cladding for any sashes that are still intact, replacing the rotten ones).
We built our house and decided on Pella as a quality product that would last the life of the house. That was a huge mistake as all of our windows have issues with water seeping in around the cladding and some are so rotten they may soon fall off. We called Pella and they did not want to discuss our problem. They said to put some silicone around them. We are in the class action suit but it appears it is just going around in circles with no end in sight. We called Pella last year to see what it would cost to replace the sash on some of the worst windows and after several emails and phone calls we decided it was not worth the risk to buy something that may or may not fit. The cost for just two sashes was over $1200 and if they did not fit we would be stuck with them. Pella management should be put in prison for knowingly selling this product.
I have about 80 Pella Designer Series windows and some are now rotting. The house was built in 1999. Do the Designer Series Windows have the same design problem as the Proline Windows? I have been waiting for 2 months for a replacement sash that has fallen apart. Very bad service from Pella to date.
I have read almost every comment above and yes I am in the same boat, my question is, is there a class action pending that I can get involved with or is this just a spot to blow of steam?
I am in this rotting boat too. A year ago, roughly, I thought the law suit was dead so I bit the bullet and replaced one casement window that was severely rotted. I bought it directly from Pella. However, I have some eight feet tall custom shaped fixed windows that are rotting on the inside. Is this case still open? Is there any recourse? About ten years ago when the windows were still under warranty I contacted Pella and told them the bottom four, six foot tall windows, were leaking. They said that was not possible. I got a little mean and forced a rep to come watch as I squirted a hose at the windows so he could see the water run in. Their offer was free windows and $2,000 labor. I told them to ship me the windows and I would install them. I can not install these upper windows because they are way too high. What can be done now?
I purchased Pella Pro-Line Windows and Doors 5/24/13 and 3/18/14 for almost $10,000.00. Just found out about the class-action against Pella. I would like to join this class-action.
Id like to smash the guys face whos response was gets the facts straight and quit whining. All these people in here have to replace windows that shouldve lasted 30+ years. The fact that Pella can get away with this is horrible. Im going to try and fix mine if I can and buy a few extra years maybe. Hey! I know! Ill fix all the Pella brand prolines for all Pella customers and be rich. Just like Pella. What piece of shit company.