Bryan Furnace Case
Is Canada about to benefit from a Bryant Furnace Class Action Lawsuit? And Canada could soon gain from the resolution of such a class action suit brought against the manufacturer corporation for supposedly falsely charging Canadian consumers for high efficiency electric furnaces which were not available in Canada prior to the lawsuit. The products complained about in such a class action suit include mid-efficiency condensing furnaces made after Jan.1, 1989; these are said to be sold in Canada by companies called Biofinity and Presto. These companies have apparently done business in Canada since at least that time.
So, why did the class action suit occur in Canada?
It appears that some of the manufacturers advertised high temperature electrical furnaces which were not available in Canada before the suit was filed. This is apparently so that the manufacturer could sell similar units outside Canada to individuals who did not reside in that country prior to being subjected to the fraud. In other words, it appears that the manufacturers took advantage of non- Canadians who bought the said units in hopes of gaining instant profit gains. And, in the process of doing so, they caused tremendous damage to Canada’s consumers through higher prices, and manufacturing processes which resulted in a lower quality product than that which was originally sold by the defendant, namely carrier Bryant payne.
Now, the question is: Were the defendant parties involved in this case duly informed and did they timely take steps to mitigate the harm caused to the plaintiff and, if so, whether they failed to do so?
It’s apparent that the answer to this last question is “yes” given that it’s apparent that the defendant did take measures to remedy the situation even before being put on notice of the class action lawsuit. Further, it’s also clear that they were, in fact, served with the lawsuit notices in Canada. This further adds to the likelihood that the Canadian manufacturer of the Bryant furnace did not take steps to mitigate the harm to the plaintiff as required under the statute of Canada.
The defendant is also facing an imminent class-action lawsuit in the U.S. On October 13th, the U.S. Attorney General issued a statement regarding the defendant’s efforts to settle the case without going to trial.
According to the statement, the State Attorney General determined that the defendants had provided the wrong data to the plaintiffs and that those data had been used in attempts to forge statements in support of the claims of the plaintiffs had asserted. Subsequently, the State Attorney General filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against defendant Coleman and the defendants CitiGore Ltd., alleging that the manufacturers knew about the deliberate actions.
Now, as noted at the outset of this article, there is insufficient evidence to determine whether or not either manufacturer has violated the relevant statutes.
Accordingly, the question of liability is addressed to the jury verdict. If the jury concludes that the manufacturers did indeed know about the risk associated with brazing and yet failed to take measures to mitigate that risk, they may be liable for punitive damages as well as damages for the negligent act of brazing. Again, as noted above, this analysis is problematic because of the fact that both manufacturers have strong defenses. Accordingly, plaintiffs would be well advised to seek qualified expert assistance in resolving the claims underlying the present lawsuit.
To date, no final resolution has been reached in this class-action lawsuit.
The parties are scheduled for final arguments before the courts on February 5, 2009. No definitive timeline has been announced. It is also important to note that even if one of the manufacturers were found to be responsible for the injuries suffered by a Current Class of victims, that individual’s liabilities may be offset against any claim for punitive damages recovered by the defense. The current litigation involves extensive discovery that will most likely continue until a resolution is reached.
