Oreck Direct, LLC Class Action Denied

San Francisco, CA: (May-10-07) Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, a US District Court Judge, denied granting class action status to a lawsuit filed against Oreck Direct LLC, of New Orleans, a vacuum cleaner manufacturer. The lead plaintiff in the suit, who said he suffered from allergies, sued, alleging that an Oreck air purifier failed to alleviate his symptoms, also admitted to have become involved in the suit by responding to a newspaper advertisement by the counsel, which claimed that he could be a part of the suit. The lawyers had asked to certify a class of more than 77,000 people. Judge Patel declined class action status as it was established that the plaintiff met his lawyer for the first time the day before his deposition in this action; and he did not read the complaint before it was filed. In an earlier case filed by the same counsel in 2005, an appeals court panel disqualified the firm in a class action lawsuit against Apple Inc., where the lead plaintiff was a relative of the counsel. [MONDAQ PRESS: PURIFIER DENIED]