VALLEY FORGE, Pennsylvania
,
January 4, 2010
(press release)
–
CertainTeed Corporation and Court-appointed Co-Lead and Liaison Counsel for the Plaintiffs in In re: CertainTeed Corporation Roofing Shingles Products Liability Litigation, MDL Docket No. 1817 (E.D. Pa), confirm that preliminary court approval has been granted for a proposed settlement in the case.
In the lawsuit, the Plaintiffs alleged that organic asphalt shingles manufactured by CertainTeed from July 1, 1987 through 2005 are subject to premature failure and otherwise do not perform in accordance with the reasonable expectations of users. CertainTeed denies these allegations and asserts that the vast majority of the shingles are free of any defect and will last throughout the warranty period.
The terms of this settlement, which all parties believe to be fair and reasonable, provide for additional compensation to certain homeowners, beyond the company's warranty terms. The parties have agreed to the settlement to avoid the expense, inconvenience, and distraction of further protracted litigation and to fully resolve this matter.
This is a "claims made" settlement, and NOT a "lump sum" settlement. The settlement agreement provides a formula to pay individual claims when they are filed by homeowners who are part of the class. This means that the value of the settlement will depend on the number of individual claims filed by homeowners in the future.
Recently published estimates regarding the final value of the settlement are premature. Neither CertainTeed nor the Plaintiffs have presented any valuation or estimate of the settlement to the Court.
The settlement agreement covers only organic shingles, which the company discontinued manufacturing and selling several years ago -- specifically, the agreement covers organic shingles with the brand names Hallmark Shangle, Independence Shangle, Horizon Shangle, Custom Sealdon, Custom Sealdon 30, Sealdon 20, Sealdon 25, Hearthstead, Solid Slab, Master Slab, Custom Saf-T-Lok/Saf-T-Lok and the Custom Lok 25.
The settlement does not include CertainTeed's fiberglass shingles Centennial Slate or Landmark, referenced in the recent press release issued by Halunen & Associates. Nor does the settlement include the fiberglass formulations of Horizon, Independence, Hallmark, and Hearthstead shingles.
Further information about the litigation, the settlement, and the class members' rights will be provided in accordance with the Court-approved notice program in the first quarter of 2010.
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