A federal court in Illinois dismissed yet another lawsuit over allegations that lumber size labels don't match reality.
This time, it was The Home Depot that had to defend itself. According to a jdsupra.com article written by the law firm of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips:
During a visit to the Palatine, Ill., Home Depot store in December 2016, Mikhail Abramov saw a shelf tag advertising 6-foot lengths of "4x4′" pressure-treated pine lumber for $7.17. Tags on the lumber also stated that it measured "4x4–6′." Abramov purchased a piece of the lumber, but when he got home, he realized that it actually measured 3.5 inches square. He sued the national chain, alleging violations of the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act (ICFA), as well as a breach of express and implied warranties and unjust enrichment.
Home Depot's motion to dismiss the suit stated what pros know well: The the dimensions represent lumber's size before it is "dressed" by the mill, and thus the result is smaller than a rough-cut board.
In dismissing the suit without prejudice, U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman rejected Abramov's claim that consumers will be confused by the label.:"This allegation is insufficient to establish that the label in this case, which is truthful, is nevertheless misleading and legally actionable under ICFA," she wrote in her opinion. This is especially so in this case because, here, Abramov had physical access to the board in question, and therefore had access to all of the information that he needed to determine its actual dimensions."
Read More
