Leonard v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.

115 F. Supp. 3d 934
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedJuly 20, 2015
DocketCase Nos. 06-CV-7023, 07-CV-0412, 08-CV-1832
StatusPublished

This text of 115 F. Supp. 3d 934 (Leonard v. Sears, Roebuck & Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leonard v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., 115 F. Supp. 3d 934 (N.D. Ill. 2015).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

MARY M. ROWLAND, United States Magistrate Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

In 2011, this Court entered an Order denying plaintiffs’ motion to certify a class of “purchasers of front loading,, high efficiency washing machines manufactured by Whirlpool and sold by Sears” in six different States “whose machines suffered from [a] mold defect.” (Dkt. 285 at 1) (Coleman, J;). The Court also denied a motion for reconsideration. (Dkt. 327 at 1). A lengthy journey through federal appellate courts followed,. culminating in reversal. See Butler v. Sears, Roebuck & Co., slip op., case no. 06-CV-7023 (N.D.Ill. July 20, 2012), reversed in relevant part, 702 F.3d 359 (7th Cir.2012), rehearing and rehearing en banc denied (7th Cir.2012), cert. granted, judgment vacated, — U.S.-, 133 S.Ct. 1722, 185 L.Ed.2d 782 (2013), and judgment reinstated, reversed. in relevant part, 121 F.3d 796 (7th Cir.2013), cert denied, — U.S.-, 134 S.Ct. 1277, 188 L.Ed.2d 298 (2014).

• After the case returned to the district court, plaintiffs filed an amended renewed motion for class certification. (Dkt. 381). Judge Coleman denied this motion without [937]*937prejudice, (Dkt. 452), knowing the parties intended subsequently to: (1) consent to the jurisdiction of the undersigned, (Dkt. 456 (joint consent to jurisdiction of Magistrate Judge)); and then (2) re-submit portions of their earlier-filed class certification briefs, with necessary amendments, (Dkt, 471 (resubmitting certain briefs)).

Plaintiffs’ pending renewed motion for class certification is identical to their earlier motion (Dkt. 381), except that plaintiffs: (a) have substituted two new proposed class representatives, and (b) seek to certify a class made up of Illinois plaintiffs only, rather than plaintiffs from six different states. Similarly, the arguments raised by Sears in opposition to plaintiffs’ pending renewed motion are identical to those offered in its earlier opposition.

In sum, nearly ten years into this litigation and four years after the Court originally denied the request, a decision reversed by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, plaintiffs’ motion for class certification of a “mold defect class” awaits a new ruling. For the reasons stated below, the motion for class certification [381] is GRANTED. The Court hereby certifies the following liability-only class of Illinois plaintiffs:

All persons who are current residents of Illinois and who purchased certain models (listed below) of Whirlpool-Manufactured, Kenmore-Brand Front-Load Washing Machines (“Kenmore Front-Load Washers”) for primarily personal, family, or household purposes, and not for resale, in Illinois,
“Kenmore Front-Load Washers” is defined to include only washers with the following model numbers:
[[Image here]]
[938]*938[[Image here]]

(See also chart appended to the end of this Order.)

Excluded from the class are: (1) Kenmore Front-Load Washers with model numbers and manufacture dates not listed above; (2) Sears, any entity in which Sears has a controlling interest, and its legal representatives, officers, directors, employees, assigns, and successors; (3) Whirlpool, any entity in which Whirlpool has a controlling interest, and its legal representatives, officers, directors, employees, assigns, and successors; (4) Kenmore Front-Load . Washers purchased through the - Sears or Whirlpool Employee Purchase. Programs; (5) the Judge to whom this case is assigned, any member of the Judge’s staff (including the Special Master and his staff) and any member of the Judge’s or the Special Master’s immediate family; (6) persons or entities who distribute or resell Kenmore Front-Load Washers; (7) government entities; and (8) claims for personal injury, wrongful death, and/or emotional distress. '

II; BACKGROUND

A. Procedural History

In the eurrently-operative Amended Consolidated Class Action Complaint (Dkt. 162, amended by interlineation, Dkt. 467), Illinois plaintiffs Karen Freeman and Peggy Lemley each allege that they bought a Kenmore-brand front-loading, high-efficiency washing machine manufactured by [939]*939intervenor-defendant Whirlpool and sold by defendant Sears, and that the machine developed serious internal mold problems. Specifically, plaintiffs allege their washers

contain a serious design defect that pre- - vents adequate .water drainage and causes them to (a) accumulate mold and mildew within the Washing Machines; (b) produce a moldy odor that permeates [their] homes if the doors to the Washing Machines are left open; (e) produce a mold or mildew odor on clothes washed in the Machines; (d) fail to clean the Machines and remove moisture, residue, growth and/or bacteria’ that lead to the formation of mold, mildew and/or associated foul odors; and (e) be unusable in the manner, to the extent to, arid for the purpose for which the Washing Machines' were advertised, marketed, and sold.

(Dkt. 162, Complaint at ¶ 2). Freeman and Lemley assert the following claims: (1) breach of express written warranty, in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Act, 15' U.S.C. §§ 2301-2312; (2) breach of implied warranty, in violation of the Magnuson-Moss Act, 15 U.S.C. §§ 2301-2312; (3) breach of express written warranty in violation of Illinois law, 810 ILCS 5/2-313; and (4) breach of implied warranty in violation of Illinois - law, 810 ILCS 5/2-314. (Id. ¶ 4).1 In their motion, however, plaintiffs seek to certify for class treatment, only the last of these four claims. (Dkt. 381 at 2, ¶ 1) (“Plaintiffs seek certification [only] of claims for breach of implied warranty under the law[ ] of ... Illinois”).2

Originally, plaintiffs sought certification of a six-state class of owners of Kenmore machines that suffer the mold problem. Plaintiffs proposed- their class should be defined to include “[a]H persons or entities who purchased, not for resale, a [Kenmore] front-load washing machine in the States of California, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota and Texas.” Plaintiffs Motion for Class Certification at 2 (Dkt.. 206).3 The Court denied the motion for class certification. (Dkt. 285).4

Plaintiffs appealed the denial of class certification and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals reversed, holding the class should have been certified. Butler v. Sears, Roebuck and Co., 702 F.3d 359 (7th Cir.2012) (“Butler I ”). The Seventh Circuit observed that: (1) “[r]oughly 200,000 of these Kenmore-brand machines are sold each year and there have been many thou[940]*940sands of complaints of bad odors by the owners,” id. at 361; and (2) the “basic' question in the litigation — were the ma-' chines defective in permitting mold to accumulate and generate noxious odors? — is common to the entire mold class,”

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Larry Butler v. Sears, Roebuck & Com
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Alvarez v. American Isuzu Motors
749 N.E.2d 16 (Appellate Court of Illinois, 2001)
Larry Butler v. Sears, Roebuck & Company
727 F.3d 796 (Seventh Circuit, 2013)
Linda Suchanek v. Sturm Foods, Incorporated
764 F.3d 750 (Seventh Circuit, 2014)
Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Butler
134 S. Ct. 1277 (Supreme Court, 2014)
Whirlpool Corp. v. Glazer ex rel. Situated
134 S. Ct. 1277 (Supreme Court, 2014)
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Sears, Roebuck & Co. v. Butler
569 U.S. 1015 (Supreme Court, 2013)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
115 F. Supp. 3d 934, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leonard-v-sears-roebuck-co-ilnd-2015.