By KYLA ASBURY
WHEELING – A Hancock County woman is suing Lumber Liquidators Inc. after she claims the company falsely advertised its products.
Lumber Liquidators Leasing LLC, Lumber Liquidators Holding Inc., and Lumber Liquidators Services LLC were also named as defendants in the suit.
Lumber Liquidators sells a variety of Chinese-manufactured laminate wood flooring materials that it prominently advertises and warrants as fully compliant with standards promulgated in the Formaldehyde Standards for Composite-Wood Products Act, according to a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
The defendant represents and advertises that their Chinese-manufactured laminate wood flooring materials comply with state and federal regulations, according to the suit.
Genevieve Baldwin claims the defendants' claims that the products comply are false, as the products emit formaldehyde gas levels in excess of the legally permissible limits and the defendants also fail to disclose the unlawful level of formaldehyde emission to consumers.
Baldwin claims Lumber Liquidators has distributed, marketed and sold various laminate flooring products that are manufactured in China, and names more than 30 products that were Chinese-made.
The plaintiff purchased Warm Springs Chestnut flooring from the defendants at a store in West Virginia, and, at the time of her purchase, Lumber Liquidators falsely represented that the product was compliant with the California Air Resource Board's formaldehyde emission standards and was defect free, according to the suit.
Baldwin claims she relied on the defendants' misrepresentations/omissions regarding compliance with CARB's formaldehyde emission standards when deciding to purchase the laminate wood flooring products and, as a result, paid Lumber Liquidators for a product that she would not have otherwise purchased.
The defendants breached their express warranty and implied warranties, according to the suit.
Baldwin claims the defendants also violated the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act and were negligent.
The defendants also violated the West Virginia Consumer Credit and Protection Act.
Baldwin is seeking class certification and compensatory and punitive damages. She is being represented by Troy N. Giatras of the Giatras Law Firm PLLC.
The case is assigned to District Judge Frederick P. Stamp Jr.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia case number: 5:15-cv-00061