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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
We moved into or house in 2004. At that time all the windows were new from previous owners. All Pella through the whole house. Each window has been slowly rotting. In the winter the windows leave a puddle of water. Windows facing inside the house are dripping from condensation. Part of the reason we purchased this house was because of the new windows. We cannot afford to have them all replaced. At our other house we purchased cheap Windows and they never did what these are doing.i can’t believe a big company like this can get away with this.
Please add me to the list. We need this law suit reopen and try to get them help to pay to replace the Windows. Will cost me $35-40k to replace all Windows, they just told me that because the government stop letting them used the kind of chemical that help preventing the rotting, so they used the 3rd party and that is what happened. Yeah they blamed on that 3rd party. This is how many companies do, they blamed on someone else. This is sad and disappointed, our society is lossing it basic principal and we are all wondering why we’re where we are right now.
I have 9 sets of clad sliding Pella patio doors, 2 clad entry doors and one clad fixed door…all are rotting. Is it too late to get in on the lawsuit?
Same issue as everyone else with two Proline sliders. Pella replaced sliding panels twice in warranty and when they failed the last time they caulked them. Horrible product, terrible service, criminal company. If there is a new class action please include me.
We have a Pella bay window in the process of being replace with a different brand because of rotting wood. We have to have the total unit replaced because of rotting wood. I would like more information about the lawsuit against Pella also. We installed the new Pella unit in 2001 and now it is rotted wood. It is costing us $3000 for a replacement. Please help if anyone has info about getting some kind of reimbursement from Pella.
We have 14 of these rotten windows. What’s up with the lawsuit?
We are experiencing rot in many of our Proline Windows. Our home was built in 2000 and like most of the homes in this neighborhood, the builder used Pella products. Since the original lawsuit settlement was overturned, the Pella folks are telling dissatisfied customers of this faulty product, that it is not a Pella issue. They then imply that the windows were installed improperly. I informed him that a Pella technician installed these windows, which then caused him to switch to say that we were not routinely applying silicone to the gaskets which cause the rot. He had a regular list of answers and causes for everything. If I ever have another home built, Pella products will not be used. They certainly do not stand behind their product. The best they could offer was a 25% discount from their price. Something but definitely satisfactory. There are some very unhappy consumers in this neighborhood.
I am just starting to have window rot in my pella proline Windows. I was never made aware on any class action suit. I just paid $75 to have pella out to estimate my damages, and of course no mention of any of this. He just said deterioration is normal. I thought… Hmm, this house was built in 2003, there is no way that Windows should rot that quickly. I went to check others and found another rotted. As the second owner here, with no notice of any class action in 2013… Do I have any recourse? Thanks.
We installed 16 pella proline windows in our new home in 2003. In 2011, all windows showed signs of mold on the sashes. Called pella, they sent a rep out who silicones the Windows, said the humidity was too high in our home. He said he would order replacement windows. That is the last we ever heard from the rep. Numerous calls and emails to pella with no response. We filed a claim, sent pictures, etc. and eventually got a letter saying that they would give us 30% off on new Windows. Now, I have a casement window that completely fell out of the frame( rotted so bad). Worst customer service ever. I am know purchasing all new Windows, not from pella
We have 12 of these Proline Pella casement windows that were purchased and installed 2003-4. I had several visits by Pella reps that claimed that our humidity was too high, when it was less then 40%. Or that they didn’t know why it was happening, or it was the installation. All 12 windows have the same rotting issues. It is disgusting. We filled out the forms, sent pictures, only to find out that the lawsuit has been overturned. This is so frustrating. I would love to know if any other firm will try this lawsuit again. It is obvious there are defects. We bought Pella since my parents had the older prolines, then later the designer series for years and never had issues and they live in bitter, cold South Dakota. Ours are rotten in just a few years. Very disappointing Pella!