Posts Tagged ‘ defective drywall ’

Week Adjourned: 5.13.11

May 13th, 2011. By AbiK

Top Class Actions

Put your paycheck on a diet? These women don’t think it’s a such a good idea. Two Long Island women who worked for Jenny Craig filed a unpaid wages class action lawsuit, alleging that the well-known weight-loss chain put their paychecks on a diet.

The women, in a suit filed May 10 In New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan, claim that Jenny Craig Operations Inc., the Carlsbad, Calif.-based chain owned by multi-national food giant Nestlé’s, improperly shortchanged them by a 1/2 hour a day for every shift they worked, even though they worked during their 30-minute break times. The alleged underpayments violate New York’s labor laws, according to court papers.

The suit, which seeks class action status, was filed by Tammy Weinstein, of Bellmore, who has been a program director and weight loss consultant since November 2002 at Jenny Craig locations in Valley Stream and Massapequa, and by Melissa Pallini, of Holbrook, who was a weight loss consultant, program director, part time receptionist, and stocker from June 2008 until June 2010 at the chain’s East Patchogue location.

The suit seeks to represent all New York employees of Jenny Craig who worked as weight loss consultants, receptionists, stock persons, program directors and any other employee at Jenny Craig weight-loss centers. According to court papers, the class included more than 500 people who’ve worked at Jenny Craig since May 2005. The chain has 30 locations statewide, 10 of them on Long Island, in Centereach, E. Patchogue, Great Neck, Farmingdale, Freeport, Hicksville, Huntington Station, Massapequa and Valley Stream.

The employees worked about 15 to 35 hours a week on shifts of five to eight hours one day to five days per week, according to court papers.

Jenny Craig, a commercial program that features portion-controlled, prepackaged meals supplemented by store-bought vegetables and fruit, received top marks this week from Consumer Reports for diet success. The chain offers support through weekly counseling sessions.

The diet chain’s celebrity spokespersons have included actress Kirstie Alley, Valerie Bertinelli, Queen Latifah, actresses Sara Rue and Nicole Sullivan, actor Jason Alexander and, since January, actress Carrie Fisher.

Top Settlements

Where there’s smoke, there’s gas… This is certainly an interesting twist on an old theme. A Flordia judge recently ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in litagation over defective Chinese drywall. The Hillsborough County judge, Robert Foster, ruled that homeowners’ insurance should Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Asbestos, Asbestos Mesothelioma, Asbestos Settlement, chinese drywall, defective drywall, Jenny Craig, wage and hour lawsuit, weight loss
Posted in Week Adjourned | 7804No Comments »Week+Adjourned%3A+5.13.112011-05-13+20%3A10%3A05AbiK

Bought Drywall at Lowe’s? There’s a Settlement…

August 11th, 2010. By LucyC

A rather big announcement this week for people who purchased sulfur contaminated drywall from Lowes, the do-it-yourself (DIY) home building supplies retailer. They have agreed to pay the equivalent of $6.5 million in gift cards, to end a class action lawsuit that claimed they sold defective drywall.

So if you bought defective drywall—i.e. sulfur laden drywall—Chinese drywall—you know the stuff—at Lowes, you could be eligible for a gift card. FYI—there doesn’t appear to be any information on how much the gift cards will be for.

The settlement agreement, interestingly, didn’t specify where Lowe’s obtained their defective drywall, but in a report by the Wall Street Journal, a company spokesperson is quoted as follows “Lowe’s has been assured by vendors who provided stock drywall for sales in our stores that drywall they provided was not imported from China. But the settlement includes claims of all types of allegedly defective drywall people claim to have purchased from Lowe’s.”

I don’t know if it’s just me but $6.5 million seems a rather paltry amount, considering the damage inflicted on tens of thousands of unsuspecting homeowners. Although it is larger than the settlement awarded in the first Chinese drywall trial brought by Lisa and Armin Seifart. More on that in a minute.

According to the Homeowners Consumer Center in Washington, D.C, Chinese drywall has Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall, defective drywall, Lowe's
Posted in Defective Products, Settlement | 469313 Comments »2010-08-11+14%3A10%3A42LucyC

Chinese Drywall on the move

July 10th, 2009. By AbiK

drywallmapjuly62009 Chinese Drywall on the move Until recently, reported incidents of defective Chinese drywall seemed fairly contained to the southeast—particularly Florida. The Chinese drywall situation may prove to be larger than anyone expected as we watch the ”creep” effect on a map of the US, compliments of the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The map (above) shows the now 18 states, plus the District of Columbia, that have reported incidents of defective drywall. And, as we blogged recently in Chinese Drywall by the Numbers, incident reports have begun to show up beyond our borders as well…

Tags: chinese drywall, defective drywall
Posted in Defective Products, Emerging Issues | 571No Comments »Chinese+Drywall+on+the+move2009-07-10+14%3A00%3A02AbiK

Saints’ Coach can run from Chinese Drywall, can you?

July 6th, 2009. By AbiK

seanpayton Saints Coach can run from Chinese Drywall, can you? Ok, now we’re getting to some of the harsh realities about the toxic Chinese drywall situation. The AP reported back on June 18th that New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton’s home is one of the many affected by defective drywall—and in the meantime, he’s moved out. He’s apparently renting someplace. But see, that takes money, right? And I bet no one’s telling the Payton’s they can just let their mortgage payments (assuming they have them) lapse while they fork over money to rent someplace else. But can the thousands of other homeowners whose lives have been affected by defective Chinese drywall do that? Pretty doubtful.

And Payton clearly understand this: the AP article states Payton “says he feels sorry for residents in Louisiana who have the same problem but can’t afford to make such a move.”

Chances are, given what is now reported on US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)website regarding the potential health effects of the defective drywall, anyone who has any of these symptoms would most likely want to leave home: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall, defective drywall
Posted in Defective Products | 5732 Comments »2009-07-06+16%3A52%3A57AbiK

Chinese Drywall: when to get a Lawyer

June 11th, 2009. By admin

drywallblackpipe2 Chinese Drywall: when to get a Lawyer Since the Chinese Drywall debacle became big news, a ton of websites have popped up offering “what to look for” tips on how to detect whether you have a problem. While you may find evidence of a potential problem by noticing an unnatural blackening on coins or jewelry in your home, or by failure of appliances that use copper wiring, the Florida State Department of Health outlines what signs to look for that’ll ensure you get the help you need: legal help—as most homeowner’s insurance policies won’t give you a dime of help.

If you’re like many people, you may be a bit hesitant to contact a lawyer—but the guidelines below will help you understand when it’s in your best interest (and your home’s) to do so.

According to current case definition (3/30/09), you must meet certain requirements in order to meet the case definition—and it depends on when your home was built:

Homes built after January 1, 2004 must show at least 2 of the 5 following signs.

Homes built before January 1, 2004 must show at least 3 of the 5 following signs.

1. Sulfur-like or rotten egg smell.

2. Drywall in your home with any of these visible markings…

Made in China

Knauf – Tianjin

China-ASTM C36 06-05-03, 10.14

Made in China ASTM C36/C1396 Standard

Knauf – Tianjin China ASTM C36

National Gypsum

GridMarX

3. Evidence of black, sooty coating on copper freon pipes connecting to air handling unit