Settlement Archive

Bought Drywall at Lowe’s? There’s a Settlement…

August 11th, 2010. By LucyC

A rather big announcement this week for people who purchased sulfur contaminated drywall from Lowes, the do-it-yourself (DIY) home building supplies retailer. They have agreed to pay the equivalent of $6.5 million in gift cards, to end a class action lawsuit that claimed they sold defective drywall. 

So if you bought defective drywall—i.e. sulfur laden drywall—Chinese drywall—you know the stuff—at Lowes, you could be eligible for a gift card. FYI—there doesn’t appear to be any information on how much the gift cards will be for. 

The settlement agreement, interestingly, didn’t specify where Lowe’s obtained their defective drywall, but in a report by the Wall Street Journal, a company spokesperson is quoted as follows “Lowe’s has been assured by vendors who provided stock drywall for sales in our stores that drywall they provided was not imported from China. But the settlement includes claims of all types of allegedly defective drywall people claim to have purchased from Lowe’s.” 

I don’t know if it’s just me but $6.5 million seems a rather paltry amount, considering the damage inflicted on tens of thousands of unsuspecting homeowners. Although it is larger than the settlement awarded in the first Chinese drywall trial brought by Lisa and Armin Seifart. More on that in a minute. 

According to the Homeowners Consumer Center in Washington, D.C, Chinese drywall has Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: chinese drywall, defective drywall, Lowe's
Posted in Defective Products, Settlement | 19 Comments »

Winner of Lowest Expedia.com Settlement Check Contest!

August 10th, 2010. By AbiK

Congratulations to Gabe from Virginia!

Gabe is the lucky winner of our “Who Has the Lowest Expedia Settlement Check?” Contest!

Our contest ended July 31, 2010—and with a settlement check of One Hundred Thirteen cents (it just sounds better than $1.13, no?), Gabe takes the prize.*

(*yes, we did have a lower check amount, but the person who had it, while gleeful about winning, declined to receive the prize.)

No, his settlement amount won’t buy him that dream vacation—booked, of course, at Expedia.com—but now Gabe can head over to the local dollar store, find one item to purchase, and pay for it—Virginia state sales tax included—and still have 8¢ left over! If I may be so bold, I’d like to suggest the large Popcorn Tub from Dollar Tree (assuming they’re in VA) at right—it’ll help create the perfect ambiance for Gabe as he’s enjoying his prize for being our lucky winner…

The Prize…

A 4-DVD set of the Greatest Whistleblower Movies of All-Time (according to us) including Serpico, Silkwood, The Insider, and Erin Brockovich.

So Congratulations to Gabe—we hope you enjoy a few good ‘movie nights’ on us!

And for the rest of you…stay tuned—you never know when you might just be a lucky winner in one of our contests…

Tags: Expedia Settlement, Expedia.com, Whistleblower
Posted in Contest, Settlement | No Comments »

Ever Wonder if Lawsuit Settlements and Verdicts are Taxable?

July 8th, 2010. By Kristine B

It’s probably one of the biggest questions people involved in lawsuits ask. Is my settlement money taxable? (In other words, how much of this money do I get to keep and how much of it goes to the government?) This week, Pleading Ignorance examines settlements/verdicts, and how much of the money really is yours.

Like everything in life, what is and isn’t taxable is complicated. Whether or not the money in a settlement is taxable depends on a number of factors, because nothing in income tax is ever simple. According to Jeff Schnepper at moneycentral.msn.com (12/04/09), there must be a physical injury for the settlement to be free from tax. So, an award for wrongful termination would be taxable because there is no physical injury.

In fact, there are two requirements to ensure a settlement (or a verdict) is tax-free. The first, as mentioned before, is that there must be a physical injury (which includes illness). Without physical injury, you’re paying taxes.

The second is that the injury must have been caused by a wrongful act. This means that the other party must have committed a wrongful act, which caused your injury. So, if someone was negligent and injured you, your award or settlement would be tax-free. But, if the lawsuit was caused by a dispute that didn’t involve wrongdoing, the award would be taxable.

Punitive damages are taxable, regardless of whether or not they are related to a physical injury. The government taxes citizens on income and punitive damages; because they are not compensating the plaintiff for money lost, those damages are seen as above and beyond what would be needed to make the victim whole.

Emotional distress is not considered a physical injury. So, even if emotional distress results in your feeling ill, emotional distress on its own is taxable. Emotional distress is tax-free when it is linked to a physical injury. For example, if you injure your neck and this results in emotional distress, your award for emotional distress is tax-free.

If, however, you were wrongfully terminated from your job and this resulted in emotional distress, any award for emotional distress is taxable.

Awards for lost wages are, in most cases, taxable because they replace income that would have been taxable.

Tags: Pleading Ignorance, Settlement, Settlement Money, Tax
Posted in Emerging Issues, Pleading Ignorance, Settlement | 10 Comments »

Contest: Who has the Lowest Expedia Settlement Check?

June 29th, 2010. By AbiK

Come on—if it’s you, there’s a 4-DVD set of the Best Whistleblower Movies of All-time awaiting you (hey, we are a legal news site, so no spend-a-day-at-a-spa giveaways…)—it’s Serpico, Silkwood, The Insider, and Erin Brockovich.

We posted recently on the Expedia settlement and my (slight) dismay over my 56¢ settlement check. So far, one reader had commented that his check was for $1.13. But then Steve wrote in—his is 39¢. So I’m thinking, someone out there must be holding a check for a few mere pennies.

Here’s how to play:

Go to our Facebook page—LawyersAndSettlements.com—and post the amount of your check along with a full frontal (no nudity please) image of the check you received. It has to be made out to you, of course, and we have to be able to read it, and, it has to be from “In re Expedia Hotel Taxes and Fees Litigation Settlement”.

Contest will run till July 31, 2010. Prize will be sent out during the first week of August, 2010. Should there be a tie for lowest settlement check amount, the entry (i.e., post) that is received earliest will be the winner.

Game on! Spread the word—someone out there has that winning check…

Tags: Expedia Settlement
Posted in Settlement | No Comments »

WTF?!? Just Got my Expedia Settlement Check

June 22nd, 2010. By AbiK

Given where I work, you realize I tend to lean on the side of reasonable litigation where consumer wrongs are concerned. Key word: reasonable. But I, like you, am susceptible to feelings of profound absurdity when I receive a settlement check in the mail for fifty-six cents. As I just did, from the Expedia settlement. I also received a plea to “Act now!” from Go Daddy Girl Danica Patrick that also borders on the absurd (did Danica major in Computer Science in college? did I miss that?)—but that’s perhaps for another post sometime.

So.

56¢.

2 quarters, a nickel and a penny.

And I love the added insult on the check (above) where the amount is spelled out: “Zero Dollars…” Oh sure—I realize it’s protocol. But it taunts me. It’s as if it’s Expedia’s snidely sly way of delivering a “Take that, you claimant!”

Take it I will.

Mere pittance though it is, I do realize the settlement was only applicable to hotel reservations. Not flights. And I’ve booked way more flights via Expedia than hotel stays. Those of you who know me know that I kind of have an “in” on the hotel front, so why go through some middle man?

Still, 56¢ is not worth the gas to go to the ATM to deposit the check.

It is also not worth my time to do so.

And, it was not worth the postage and processing it probably took to send it to me.

So why am I going to go to the bank and schlep up to the ATM to deposit it?

Because, much like the classic MasterCard ads—the ones that end with a statement about something being “priceless”, this is in its own way, priceless. It’s not about the money. It’s about calling someone on the carpet for a wrongdoing—in this case, bilking travellers by bundling fees.

So off I go. Just do me a favor—if I ever get to the point where I’m defending a lawsuit brought about by attorney Alfred Rava—who’s apparently big on the concept of suing on “principle” (and who surprisingly hasn’t been in the news as of late)—please feel free to call me on the carpet.

Tags: Expedia, Expedia Settlement
Posted in Emerging Issues, Settlement | 8 Comments »