Berkshire Hathaway faulty wiring class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Jay Nelson filed a class action lawsuit against Forest River Inc.
- Why: Nelson claims Forest River manufactured RVs with unsafely designed and installed wiring systems, increasing a risk of fire.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in Montana federal court.
Berkshire Hathaway company Forest River sold recreational vehicles with unsafely designed and installed wiring systems, a new class action lawsuit alleges.
Plaintiff Jay Nelson claims Forest River manufactures model year 2002-2022 Palomino Puma Fifth Wheel RVs without the proper overcurrent protection needed to protect from an electrical short.
Nelson says he noticed smoke coming out of his 2019 Forest River Puma RV in May 2020 during a family camping trip, ultimately discovering a wire charging the RV’s 12-volt batteries had shorted.
The short occurred because the company had not properly insulated the wire or protected its conductors, Nelson argues.
“Forest River knows that all conductors must be provided with overcurrent protection and that without proper circuit breaker protection, the wire can overheat, increasing the risk of fire,” the Berkshire Hathaway class action states.
Forest River allegedly committed safety violations with repair
Nelson claims he took his RV to a Forest River dealership to be fixed; however, he argues the company violated National Fire Protection Association code when repairing the RV.
“Plaintiff did not understand that the repair continued to include a wire not protected by a breaker and not properly insulated and protected in several areas,” the class action states. Dealership employees “confirmed they had seen similar fires in other subject RVs.”
Nelson claims the company is guilty of unjust enrichment and fraudulent concealment, among other things, and in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.
Nelson wants to represent a nationwide class and Montana subclass of consumers who have purchased a Forest River Fifth Wheel containing an unsafe wiring system.
Plaintiff is demanding a jury trial and requesting declaratory relief along with compensatory, statutory and exemplary damages for himself and all class members.
A consumer filed a separate class action lawsuit against Grand Design last year over claims the company attempts to escape liability on a known RV defect by providing repairs that don’t work long-term and bleed out a customer’s warranty period.
Have you purchased a Forest River RV? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by C. Tab Turner of Turner & Associates PA; Dennis P. Conner and Gregory G. Pinski of Conner, Marr & Pinski PLLP; and Daniel B. Bidegaray of Bidegaray Law Firm LLC.
The Berkshire Hathaway Faulty Wiring Class Action Lawsuit is Nelson v. Forest River Inc., et al., Case No. 4:22-cv-00049, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
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28 thoughts onBerkshire Hathaway class action claims faulty wiring in Forest River RVs causes fires
Currently dealing with a brand new 2024 Forest River Arctic Wolf 3910suite. We have had issues with it since Camping World dropped it off to us on Day 1. We had and still do have an electrical jack leveling and operating system fault appear. Was told it would go away after system was charge or hooked up to the grid. Never has gone away.
The aft sewage gate value looks to be closed but waste still get past the value. Bought a extra see through gate value to avoid fines and unexpected waste on me.
The GFI plugs circuit breakers keep tripping even with nothing plugged into the system.
The electric heater or fireplace in the camper never turns off unless the outside temp is higher than the set temp. (I could have it a 100 degrees in the camper and it will not turn off).
The main HVAC Heater stopped working after only having the unit for four months. According to Good Sams they believe not enough voltage is going to the blower. When we checked the fuse and everything we found some auxiliary lights were spliced into the system.
During the finding of the HVAC Heater going out discovered the water pump or something behind the blower is leaking near the circuit board and fuse panels. Wonder if there is some exposed wiring back there that keeps tripping the GFIs.
We have been constantly calling Forest River and to get in touch with them on where to take it in to have a look but they have refused to call us back. So after 4 months of finding out my extra protection (Roadside Assistance) no mobile techs available have to bring the unit in for inspection. Finally we just took in to the dealership to have them deal with it.
I know we bought a lemon since we were sold on this being a winter unit were Forest River claims can be comfortable in cold weather and no need to winterize do to the design they have on the system. Watch warranty will deny (not pay for their design flaw) water leak problem do to freeze damage. Also it feels like there is no insulation in our unit. We even bought foam boards and placed them through out the RV and was still cold.
We bought a 2023 Forest River Cherokee Wolf Pup last July. We recently went on a long trip (first long trip) and our truck would tell us the lights on tow were not working. So husband messed around with the plug in and drove again. The same thing kept happening. We took it to a shop to help us figure it out and the put a new plug in and said it could be the ground wires. He did not do that kind of work. So husband, did some zip ties, thing it would hold it tight and not keep going on and off. As we were going down the highway, they went off again. We had to call someone to get it fixed right. So the gentleman looked under the box where the wiring was and seen the problem right away. He said it looked like they did not even crimp the wiring, they were just dangling. That is why the lights would go on and off; getting a connection/or not everytime we would hit a bump. I don’t thing they every inspected this. This was very dangerous. We are so upset and have to pay out of pocket $250. We also had our refridgerator go out as well. NEVER will purchase a Forest River again!!!
We purchase a Forest River popup truck camper in 2022 and before the end of 2024 the roof lifting Jack’s needed to be replaced replaced because rainwater was draining down the interior of the Jack’s and causing rust and corrosion damage to the gear box Forest River does not seem interested in fixing the Jack problem ,they are just interested in selling you a new replacement!
We bought a 2020 FR Wolf Pack 325 private sale 4/24 to replace our 2005 FR AAS 375. We booked the entire month of September at Jellystone in Quarryville Pa. 15 minutes after arriving there was smoke coming from 7 way junction box in which started a fire. The fire took out entire electrical and hyd systems. My hand was burned trying to reach the disconnect mounted on the back wall. I just yesterday was able to move off the lot and bring home with more repairs to be made. It appeared that the power wire from tow vehicle was wired to the wrong side of breaker and was not protected as it shorted out. I want out of this unit. Add us.
I was going down the hwy last Aug and the back outer shell flipped over In the rd! I am lucky nobody was killed. It had not been properly sealed on top. 2014 palomini! They accused me of changing the exterior!