Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD) and Menards are the subject of class action lawsuits over claims they deceived buyers by selling wrongly specified lumber. Lawsuits filed in the federal court for the Northern District of Illinois alleges that the two companies sold lumber boards specified as 4×4 yet they were actually 3.5×3.5.
Wrong Specification
The lawsuits filed within five days of each other seek more than $5 million in damages. A Chicago law firm behind the two suits alleges their clients incurred damages as a result of the deception. However, the firm is yet to specify the damage caused other than customers having to pay for a wrongly specified lumber.
Menards and Home Depot have already hit at the claims reiterating that the allegations are bogus. The two retailers in their defense reiterate that it is common knowledge that names such as two by four or four by four does not necessarily describe width and thickness of the wood.
“Plaintiffs’ claims are based entirely on the thickness and width of the product,” notes the Menards memorandum. “[R]regardless of what the shelf tags and product labels purportedly said or did not say, the undeniable fact remains that Plaintiffs received exactly what they were supposed to receive,” Menards in a statement.
Home Depot Defense
Lawyers from the law firm have disputed Menard’s and Home Depot’s sentiments that the difference between nominal descriptions and actual dimensions is common knowledge. Product labels according to the law firm should disclose whether designations are actual or nominal.
Plaintiffs face an uphill task to prove the kind of damage caused by the two retailer’s alleged wrong specifications. No customer has yet to come out and prove that due to wrong specifications they were not able to complete a particular job.
Home Depot has also quashed claims that customers would have paid less had they known they weren’t getting the true 4×4 lumber. According to the retailer, anyone who wanted a dressed piece of lumber that is 4×4 would have ordered a 4.5×4.5 piece that does not exist.
Home Depot stock was down by 0.71% in Thursday’s trading session to end the day at $155.48 a share.
