April 27, 2015 — A panel of federal judges will meet to decide whether to centralize at least 10 class action lawsuits against Lumber Liquidators into one district court in California.
The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) will respond to a motion filed by Shelly Conte, et al. to transfer lawsuits into the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Lawsuits are currently filed in California, Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.
According to the hearing order (PDF), judges will meet on May 28, 2015 and consider establishing a Multi-District Litigation (MDL). This type of litigation is designed to streamline the discovery process, prevent inconsistent rulings in different courts, and serve the convenience of parties, witnesses, and the judiciary.
Meanwhile, a number of customers have reported that Lumber Liquidators has been slow to provide test results. The company provided at least 10,000 customers with free formaldehyde air-testing kits, but has not disclosed how many homes have failed the test.
Lumber Liquidators is facing a class action in California accusing them of misleading customers about the safety of their floors by providing faulty test kits.
CBS Los Angeles talked to one consumer who installed flooring in March and developed health problems is considering joining the class action:
“I’d been getting very, very bad headaches, even where I’m dizzy … then I’d be nauseous. In the morning when I’d wake up, I would go and throw up. I’ve been to the hospital once thinking I was having a heart attack. It was chest pains, erratic heartbeat.”