In September 2012, a cert. petition was filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in a case worth watching, Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer, No. 12-322. The case has been relisted twice as of January, and is apparently being held pending resolution of another matter, probably Comcast Corp. v. Behrend, No. 11-864 (argued on November 5).
In Glazer, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the district court's order granting class certification of claims for breach of warranty, negligent design, and negligent failure to warn under Ohio law. In re Whirlpool Corp. Front-Loading Washer Products Liab. Litig., 678 F.3d 409 (6th Cir. 2012).
A brief excerpt:
The case involves multi-district litigation concerning alleged design defects in Whirlpool's Duet®, Duet HT®, Duet Sport®, and Duet Sport HT® front-load washing machines (“the Duets”). Named plaintiffs Gina Glazer and Trina Allison alleged on behalf of the class that the Duets do not prevent or eliminate accumulating residue, which leads to the growth of mold and mildew in the machines, ruined laundry, and malodorous homes.
....
Based on the evidentiary record, the district court properly concluded that whether design defects in the Duets proximately caused mold or mildew to grow and whether Whirlpool adequately warned consumers about the propensity for mold growth are liability issues common to the plaintiff class. These issues are capable of classwide resolution because they are central to the validity of each plaintiff's legal claims and they will generate common answers likely to drive the resolution of the lawsuit.
Whirlpool asserts that proof of proximate cause will require individual determination, but the record shows otherwise. Whirlpool's own documents confirm that its design engineers knew the mold problem occurred despite variations in consumer laundry habits and despite remedial efforts undertaken by consumers and service technicians. Plaintiffs' expert, Dr. Gary Wilson, opined that consumer habits and the home environment in which a Duet sits could influence the amount of biofilm buildup, but those factors were not the underlying cause of biofilm buildup. Whirlpool contends that Dr. Wilson did not evaluate later design changes to the Duets to see if they rectified the mold problem. As we read the pertinent testimony and expert report, Dr. Wilson acknowledged that Whirlpool made some changes to the “Access” platform tub design, but there continued to be other areas in the machine that collected debris. He also examined a new “Horizon” platform washer and found that it still had cavities on the inside of the tub exposed to the water side, increasing the likelihood of biofilm collection. Dr. Wilson testified that even removing those cavities would not eliminate the biofilm problem. See Samuel–Bassett v. KIA Motors Am., Inc., 34 A.3d 1, 13 (Pa. 2011) (rejecting claim that design changes defeated commonality and predominance where modifications did not significantly alter the basic defective design).
Id. at 412, 419 (footnote omitted).
A copy of Whirlpool's cert. petition is available at this link. The respondents' brief is here and the reply brief is here.
Comments