Legal News

Judge Grants $2.6 Million in Drywall Cases; But Will Plaintiffs Recover?

By Ashby Jones

We’ve asked the question so often it almost sounds like a personal plea: Will the new asbestos please stand up, raise its hand, shake a fist, something? So far, at least in the last couple of years nothing’s emerged as the new asbestos, the new big personal-injury boon for plaintiffs lawyers. Click here, here and here for previous posts in which we’ve called out for candidates.

We’re not ready to anoint a winner, but Chinese drywall is making a bid, based on a little news out Thursday.

A federal district judge in New Orleans awarded $2.6 million in damages Thursday to seven Virginia families who sued a Chinese drywall manufacturer, in a case closely watched by homeowners, home builders and insurers. Click here for the WSJ story; here for the opinion, from Judge Eldon Fallon of the Eastern District of Louisiana.

Judge Eldon Fallon, in federal district court in New Orleans, issued the judgment in favor of homeowners who sued Taishan Gypsum Company Ltd., a Chinese state-owned drywall manufacturer, according to court documents.

That said, it’s hard to know if the plaintiffs will recover. Taishan Gypsum did not appear in court to defend itself. It never answered the complaint nor appeared at any U.S. hearing, to remove and replace all the drywall, copper plumbing, air conditioning and ventilation units, insulation and electrical wiring, as well as flooring in affected homes.

Millions of tons of Chinese drywall, or gypsum board, were imported into the U.S. from about 2004 through 2007 when a shortage developed after record hurricane seasons at the height of the building boom.

In the past few years, thousands of homeowners have filed complaints with state and federal agencies saying the drywall emits irritating fumes, corrodes metals and breaks down electrical appliances.

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., said he was not informed of the specifics of the case, and wouldn’t comment, for now.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on April 09, 2010 (boomark / email).