BREAKING BUSINESS

6/22/12
Pella reaches deal in class-action involving 6M windows - chicagotribune.com
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Hom e > Business > Chicago Breaking Business
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ...
Pella reaches deal in class-action involving 6M
windows
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PHOTOS & VIDEO
Leon ard Sal tzm an poses ou tsi de n ear th e repl aced Pel l a wi n dows i n h i s Lake Forest h om e. Man y wi n dows an d doors
were repl aced i n th e h om e by Pel l a as th e resu l t of a cl ass acti on l awsu i t. (Ch ri s Wal ker / Ju n e 22, 2012)
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By Ameet Sachdev
Tribune staff reporter
In search of the real Brandon Marshall
11:58 a.m . CDT, June 22, 2012
Six years after a Lake Forest doctor sued Pella Corp.
over alleged defects in its windows, a proposed
settlement has been reached.
The agreement covers a nationwide class of consumers
who bought ProLine casement, awning and transom
windows made by Iowa-based Pella from 1991 to
2006. Pella shipped an estimated 6 million such
windows, according to Richard Burke, one of the
plaintiffs' attorneys.
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Consumers may be eligible to receive between $750 and $6,000. The settlement also
provides benefits beyond the warranty to consumers whose windows may suffer wood rot
in the future, according to court papers.
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The proposed settlement was filed in a Chicago federal court earlier this week and must be
CHICAGO SHOPPING
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6/22/12
Pella reaches deal in class-action involving 6M windows - chicagotribune.com
approved by a judge.
Pella said Friday in a statement that it is "pleased to have created a settlement framework
that extends our existing customer support program with a claims process" for older
windows.
"In the overwhelming majority of cases, our Pella windows performed extremely well and
as designed," Pat Meyer, Pella's chief executive officer, said. "We know that each home or
building is unique and the settlement is designed to address the relatively small number that
may have experienced a problem."
Burke represents Dr. Leonard Saltzman, who built a home in Lake Forest in 1995 that
contained several ProLine casement windows. Ten years later he began to notice some of
the window frames were rotting, but the windows were no longer under warranty.
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Saltzman filed a lawsuit in 2006, alleging that the windows had a design defect that permits
water to seep behind the aluminum cladding and cause wood rot.
Pella had denied the allegations and said wood could rot for many reasons. The company
did not admit to any defects in its ProLine windows as part of the settlement, Burke said.
U.S. District Court Judge James Zagel certified the suit as a class action, and a federal
appellate court upheld the decision.
MORTGAGE
CDs
RATE
3.67%
15 yr fixed mtg
2.97%
3.02%
30 yr fixed jumbo mtg
4.27%
4.30%
5/1 ARM
2.68%
2.67%
7/1 ARM
2.95%
RATE
MMA
3 yr CD
2.96%
+/-
LAST WEEK
Loan Modification
>> Home Equity
0.49%
0.49% Loans >>
1 yr CD
CHICAGONOW
5 yr CD
asachdev@tribune.com
LAST WEEK
3.62%
6 month CD
Pending review by the court, customer notifications could begin as early as the fall, Pella
said.
+/-
30 yr fixed mtg
0.47%
0.46%
0.70%
0.70%
0.94%
0.94%
Is this wrong?
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1.36%Madagascar
characters to market a drug
Copyright © 2012, Chicago Tribune
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