News in Brief October 14 – Pella, Volvo, Vizio and More

Class Action Against Pella Says Window Screens Are “Uniformly Defective”

A class action lawsuit filed in Florida against Pella Corp. claims the company’s series 250 window and series 350 patio door screens are “uniformly defective” because they are too small to keep out bugs and debris. The suit alleges the screens are inherently too small and do not properly fit window frames, leaving an opening for bugs to enter consumers’ homes. The plaintiff who filed the suit claims that, after he first contacted Pella representatives about the problem, he was sent two sets of replacement screens that had the same defect. Individuals in Florida who bought the allegedly defective Pella windows within the last five years are covered by the proposed class.

Volvo Class Action Over Electric Car Range Kicked to the Curb

A judge in Illinois has thrown out a class action against Volvo filed by vehicle owners who claimed the Swedish car maker lied about the range of its electric SUVs. The judge dismissed the suit, court records show, because Volvo had offered a full refund on the 2016 XC90 T8 plug-in hybrid owned by the lead plaintiffs, who rejected the refund and thereby erased their standing to sue the company since no class had been certified. The plaintiffs claimed the promised range of 25 miles for their electrical vehicles diminished to 10 miles once the cars actually hit the road.

Lawsuit: Vizio TVs’ Energy-Efficient Claims Are False

A proposed class action against Vizio says the company deceives customers when touting its televisions’ energy-saving capabilities. Filed in Pennsylvania federal court, consumers allege changing the televisions’ picture settings automatically disables their energy-saving features, which could cause individuals to spend more on energy costs. Additionally, the lawsuit claims the Department of Energy’s method of testing the energy efficiency of televisions is flawed because it does not account for extra energy used by televisions when brightness is increased, nor does it accurately simulate consumers’ TV-watching habits.

Friendly’s Will Settle Wage Class Action with Servers for $4.6M

Friendly’s will pay more than $4.6 million to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged the restaurant (and certain franchise owners) failed to pay servers the tipped minimum wage and overtime. Servers also claimed Friendly’s forced them to work off-the-clock without pay during breaks and after the end of their shifts. A class of more than 10,000 servers will receive roughly $332 each.

Judge Approves $2M United Airlines Pilots Labor Settlement

A $2 million settlement was approved on Wednesday ending a three-year class action filed by United Airlines pilots against their labor union claiming they were still owed back pay after United merged with Continental Airlines. More than 100 pilots who were union members between January 2010 and December 18, 2012 will be entitled to a piece of a settlement fund, with individual amounts to be tallied on a per-person basis. Initially filed in 2012, the class action against the union stemmed from how funds from a 2012 collective bargaining deal for pilots, which was set forth by the companies’ merger, were distributed.