Lennar defeats certification in two California class actions regarding allegedly defective "yellow brass" fittings

Client(s) Lennar Corporation

Jones Day represented two California subsidiaries of the homebuilder Lennar Corporation in separate but similar statewide class actions regarding high-zinc-content brass fittings (often called "yellow brass" fittings) that were alleged to corrode through a chemical reaction called dezincification when exposed to water, ultimately causing the fittings to occlude or leak. Our clients successfully compelled both cases to judicial reference proceedings (similar to arbitration). The judicial referee granted our clients' preemptive motion to deny class certification in the first case, and the plaintiffs thereafter conceded a similar motion in the second case.

Sweidan, et al. v. Wirsbo Company, et al., Case No. RIC10014729 (Riverside County Superior Court); Verdejo, et al. v. Vanguard Piping Systems, Inc., et al., Case No. BC448383 (Los Angeles County Superior Court)