Case Presents Appropriate Occasion For Consumer Fraud Class Action
PELLA CORP. v. SALTZMAN (May 20, 2010)
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Pella Corp. is in the business of manufacturing and selling home windows. It has sold in excess of 6 million "ProLine" casement windows. When a wood rotting problem arose, Pella set up a customer service program to compensate affected purchasers. A group of those purchasers brought a class action. The suit alleges that Pella committed consumer fraud when it failed to disclose the alleged design defect and the problems it was causing. Judge Zagel (N.D. Ill.) certified seven classes: a) a nationwide Rule 23(b)(2) class of persons who own structures containing the casement windows that have not been replaced, and b) six statewide Rule 23(b)(3) classes of persons whose windows have already been replaced because of the defect. The court refused to certify causation, damages, and statute of limitations issues. Pella petitioned for leave to appeal.
In their opinion, Judges Posner, Williams, and Tinder granted the petition and affirmed. The Court agreed that consumer fraud actions frequently present problems when treated as class actions. That does not, however, equal a general rule that they can never be so treated. Here, the principal issue is whether there is a single design defect in the window that leads to wood rot. The Court concluded that the district court was well within its discretion in deciding that the issue is best resolved in a class context. The problems inherent in treating consumer fraud cases in a class context are not present in this case. The issues are not complex, the central questions are all the same, and the class members must prove causation and damages on an individual basis.
