Lumber Liquidators settles in $36 million deal; saga concludes
TOANO, Va. - The saga of hardwood flooring giant Lumber Liquidators finally has concluded this week. Lumber Liquidators will pay $36 million to settle a lawsuit filed on behalf of 760,000 customers who bought its Chinese-made laminate flooring between 2009 and 2015.
Under the terms of the settlement, Lumber Liquidators will contribute $22 million in cash and provide $14 million in-store-credit vouchers for a total of $36 million to settle all claims brought on behalf of purchasers of the Chinese-manufactured laminate flooring it sold between January 1, 2009 and May 31, 2015.
"We are pleased to have entered into this MOU, and welcome it as an important step toward resolving this legacy issue and moving forward," said Dennis Knowles, Chief Executive Officer of Lumber Liquidators.
The plaintiffs are largely homeowners who began ripping out their floors after CBS News 60 Minutes program did an expose on the flooring. Reporters interviewed managers of factories in China who were producing laminate flooring with glues containing formaldehyde, then packaging it boxes labeled as CARB compliant - erroneously indicating it met California Air Resource Board requirements for minimal formaldehyde contents.
The scandal brought down the CEO and other executives at Lumber Liquidators, and its stock price and sales and share prices fell precipitously. The revelations also led the Environmental Protection Agency to issue standards on formaldehyde in panels.
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