NORFOLK, Va. (Legal Newsline) – A hardwood retailer is the target of a lawsuit alleging that it purchased illegally sourced wood.
Macon F. Brock Jr., Robert M. Lynch, Douglas T. Moore, John M. Presley, Peter B. Robinson, Martin F. Rober, Thomas D. Sullivan, Jimmie L. Wade, Nancy M. Taylor, Daniel E. Terell, Carl R. Daniels, Jeffrey W. Griffiths and William K. Schlegel filed the lawsuit against Lumber Liquidators in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia April 15.
The suit alleges the company’s gross margins from hardwood increased as a result of illegal or “noncompliant wood.”
Many of the mills where Lumber Liquidators sources its wood are located in China. Between 2007 and 2011, the company reported gross margins of wood flooring to be between 34 percent and 35 percent per year, which is similar to big-box competitors Lowe’s and Home Depot, according to the lawsuit.
However, Lumber Liquidators’ gross margins rose to 41.8 percent by the end of the third quarter in 2013, while Lowe’s and Home Depot’s margins stayed roughly the same.
The lawsuit alleges Lumber Liquidators began purchasing wood from protected Russian forests as early as 2011. Additionally, the company allegedly sold Chinese-made laminate flooring that contained toxic levels of formaldehyde.
The plaintiffs are seeking class-action status.
They are represented by Darren J. Robbins, Benny C. Goodman III and Erik W. Luedeke of Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd LLP in San Diego.
United States District Court, Eastern District of Virginia, case number 4:15-cv-00030
