WindsorONE Traditional Settlement info
IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS:
Official Court Notice (Torch-v.-Windsor-Formal-Notice.pdf)
Torch Complaint (2017-06-12 Torch Complaint_Windsor.pdf)
Torch First Amended Complaint (2017-11-07 First Amended Class Action Allegation Complaint.pdf)
Proposed Torch Second Amended Complaint (Proposed Second Amended Complaint Torch Gomez.pdf)
Begley Complaint (Class Action Complaint.pdf)
Begley Amended Complaint (DNH 17-317 No 17 Amended Compl with Exhibits.pdf)
Settlement Agreement (Settlement Agreement.pdf)
Torch v. Windsor – Order Granting Preliminary Approval (Torch-v.-Windsor-Order-Grntng-Prelim-Approval-Torch.pdf)
KEY DATES:
FEBRUARY 28, 2022 – Notice will have been provided by settlement administrators
APRIL 29, 2022 – Deadline for Class Members who wish to file a Request for Exclusion or Objection to the Settlement
JUNE 28, 2022 – Final Approval Hearing
FAQ’s:
– What is this Lawsuit about and why is there a settlement?
On June 6, 2017, plaintiff Robert Torch filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself and others similarly situated alleging that Windsor improperly designed and marketed exterior trim board such that the boards deteriorated earlier than their expected life span. Plaintiff Jesus Gomez was added to the lawsuit by amendment filed on November 7, 2017. Plaintiff Brian Begley filed a similar lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of New Hampshire. Windsor denies any wrongdoing or liability, and disputes the facts alleged by the plaintiffs. Throughout the course of the lawsuits, Windsor asserted its valid defenses. The Court has not decided that Windsor did anything wrong or that Windsor’s product has any deficiencies, and the settlement does not mean that Windsor violated the law or that WindsorONE Traditional trim is faulty in any way. Both the plaintiffs and Windsor, however, believe that this settlement is fair, adequate, and reasonable and that it is in the best interests of the Settlement Class.
– What is a Class Action?
A class action is a lawsuit in which the claims and rights of many people are decided in a single lawsuit. One or more people called “class representatives”, also called “Named Plaintiff(s),” in this case Robert Torch and Jesus Gomez, filed the instant Lawsuit asserting claims on behalf of themselves and all other similarly situated persons. The “similarly situated persons” are called the “class,” or “class members.” The class representatives hire attorneys to handle the lawsuit, and, if the court approves the class as proposed by the class representatives’ attorneys, those attorneys (called the “Class Counsel”) represent the rights and interests of the class representatives as well as all members of the class. One court resolves the issues for all members of the class, except for those who specifically exclude themselves.
As a general rule, the class members are not responsible for paying the Class Counsel’s legal fees or expenses out of their own pockets. However, as is applicable in the instant Lawsuit, Class Counsel are sometimes paid, and reimbursed, if at all, from a money paid by the defendants. (See the response to Question 11 in Torch-v.-Windsor-Formal-Notice.pdf, regarding the basic terms of the Settlement including how attorneys’ fees are handled in this case.
– Am I a Member of the Settlement Class?
You are a Settlement Class Member if you currently have WindsorOne Traditional finger jointed pre-primed wood trim installed on the exterior of your home or structure in the United States or its territories.
Everyone who fits the class definition is a Settlement Class Member for purposes of the proposed Settlement. If you are still not sure whether you are included in the Settlement Class, you may consult an attorney of your own choosing and at your own expense, or contact one of the attorneys listed as Class Counsel in the Notice. DO NOT contact the Court, Defendants, or Counsel for the Defendants with questions about the Lawsuit or the proposed Settlement.
– What do Settlement Class Members Get From the Settlement?
In the proposed settlement, the parties have agreed to extemd the warranties previously offered for WindsorONE Traditional finger jointed pre-primed wood trim. The extended warranties include an extension of glue warranties from ten (10) years to thirteen (13) years, and an extension of paint (primer) warranties from five (5) to eight (8) years. If your WindsorONE Traditional wood trim exhibits warrantied damage within the extended warranty period, Windsor will provide you, via Constructive Claims Solutions, with replacement product for any trim with warrantied damage. Additionally, any replacement product provided under the enhanced warranty will be the premium WindsorOne Protected product.
No additional action is required at the present time to obtain the enhanced warranty. So long as a claim is presented within the extended warranty period for the WindsorONE Traditional wood trim product, you will be entitled to the benefit of the extended warranties.
The proposed settlement (the “Settlement”) provides for certain extended warranties to certain people who have or had WindsorONE Traditional finger jointed pre-primed wood trim installed on the exterior of their houses or structures in the United States or its territories prior to the date of this settlement.
– What rights and claims do Settlement Class Members release under the Proposed Settlement?
The purpose of any class action lawsuit is to resolve the legal claims of a large number of people in one lawsuit. Accordingly, whether by judgment or a settlement, certain results of a class action lawsuit are binding on all members of the Settlement Class. In the proposed Settlement for this Lawsuit, all proposed Settlement Class Members receive the benefit of certain extended warranties, and all Settlement Class Members are legally barred from taking certain future legal actions associated with claims that the Named Plaintiffs have agreed shall be released (waived) by the terms of the Settlement Agreement in return for Defendant’s agreement to provide the extended warranties. This means that, if the proposed Settlement is finally approved, the Court will enter an order dismissing with prejudice all claims in the Lawsuit against the Defendants. A dismissal with prejudice means the same claims cannot be refiled in any court. As a result of the order of dismissal and the terms of the proposed Settlement, assuming it is approved by the Court, each Settlement Class Member (except those who properly exclude themselves from this Lawsuit) will be releasing the Defendants and all related people and entities identified in Section 2L of the Settlement Agreement (called the “Released Parties”) for all the claims described and identified in Section 2K of the Settlement Agreement (called the “Released Claims”). The Settlement Agreement is available at www.constructiveclaimssolutions.com/WindsorTraditionalSettlement. The Settlement Agreement describes the Released Parties and Released Claims with specific descriptions, in necessarily accurate legal terminology, so read it carefully. You can talk to one of the lawyers listed in the Notice for free or you can, of course, talk to your own lawyer if you have questions about the released claims or what they mean.
The above explanations mean, among other things, that no Settlement Class Member, or group of Settlement Class Members, may bring any future lawsuits against Windsor, claiming Windsor designed, manufactured, advertised, promoted, sold, or otherwise introduced into the stream of commerce certain pre-primed finger-jointed wooden trim products, and that those products did not perform as intended or as represented, or any lawsuits based upon any claims or similar factual predicates set forth in the Lawsuit, or based upon any other claims that could have been asserted in this Lawsuit, but were not – even claims that were not known to such Settlement Class Member or that he or she did not even suspect existed as of the date the proposed Settlement is approved by the Court. This release of claims applies to the entire Class (except those who properly exclude themselves from this Lawsuit), not just to the subset of the Class who submit claims and/or receive benefits under the proposed Settlement.
– What happens if I am a Class Member and do nothing?
If you do nothing, you will still get the benefit of this proposed Settlement. But, unless you exclude yourself, you will not be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against Windsor about the subject matter of this Lawsuit.
– If I am a Class Member, how do I exclude myself from the Settlement?
If you want to, you can exclude yourself from the Settlement and Lawsuit, which is sometimes called “opting-out” of the Settlement Class. You must send a letter by mail stating that you want to be excluded from this Lawsuit. To exclude yourself from this Lawsuit and Settlement, you must mail a written Request for Exclusion postmarked no later than April 29, 2022 to:
Constructive Claims Solutions, LLC
Attn: WindsorONE Traditional Settlement
5900 Balcones Drive STE 4707
Austin, Texas 78731
The written Request for Exclusion must be personally signed by the individual who is the Settlement Class Member requesting exclusion, contain a statement that indicates his or her desire to be excluded from the Settlement Class in the matter of Torch and Gomez v. Windsor Surry Company, Oregon District Court Case No: 3:17-cv-00918-AA (or sufficient words to indicate the present Lawsuit against Windsor), and contain a statement that he or she is otherwise a person in the Settlement Class and owns a house or other structure with WindsorOne Traditional installed on its exterior.
You cannot exclude yourself on the phone or by e-mail or via website submission.
If you ask to be excluded, you will not get any settlement benefit, and you cannot object to the proposed Settlement. You will not be legally bound by anything that happens in this Lawsuit. You may be able to sue (or continue to sue) Defendant in the future.
Exclusion requests that do not include all required information and/or that are not submitted on a timely basis, will be deemed null, void, and ineffective. Settlement Class Members who fail to submit a valid and timely Request for Exclusion on or before April 29, 2022 shall be bound by all terms of the Settlement and any Final Judgment entered in the Lawsuit if the Settlement is approved by the Court, regardless of whether they ineffectively or untimely requested exclusion from the Settlement. You will not be able to sue Windsor for the same things later. If you have a pending lawsuit against Windsor, speak to your lawyer in that lawsuit immediately. You might have to exclude yourself from this Settlement Class to continue your own lawsuit.
– What happens if I am a Class Member and exclude myself from the Settlement?
The Opt Out deadline has passed.