|
Class Actions
Grande Law Offices is committed to aggressively litigating public interest cases on behalf of consumers and small business. Often the best way to achieve justice for large numbers of persons is to litigate a class action or group action.
Grande Law Offices has been at the forefront of legislative and litigation class action intitiatives on behalf of consumers and small businesses.
Legislation - Grande Law Offices helped secure passage of amendments to Hawai'i's Unfair and Deceptive Acts and Practices statute, providing for a private right to file class actions for small businesses and for victims of indirect anti-trust activity.
Litigation - Grande Law Offices recent class action successes include:
• $4.8 million class action settlement that paid to nursing home residents who were sold recycled pills. • $2.26 million class action settlement that paid by Allstate Insurance for improperly setting insurance rates based on credit scores. • $1.2 million class action settlement that paid by State Farm Insurance for improperly setting insurance rates based on credit scores. • $1.8 million class action settlement that paid by Hilton Hotels for not disclosing mold contamination to its guests. Homeowner Class Action Certified
Grande Law Offices and Wayson Wong have obtained certification of a construction defect class action on behalf of homeowners at the SummerHill Subdivision in Ewa, Hawaii. The case, which was filed in 2001, will go forward on behalf of more than 100 homeowners who were sold defective houses by Defendants Gentry Homes and Gentry Realty. The houses have a defective foam skit that allows ground termites to enter the homes undetected.
"This was a case that required tremendous perservence," said Thomas Grande. "The case was first dismissed because of an arbitration clause that we defeated in an important Hawai'i Supreme Court decision on homeowner arbitrations," Grande noted. "After our first certification hearing, Defendants were allowed to take nineteen depositions of potential class members. We are extremely pleased that the Court made what we believe was the best decision for the homeowners -- allow them to go foward as a class."
Grande commended co-counsel Wayson Wong, who handled all of the nineteen depositions. "Wayson displayed true dedication to this case. The SummerHill homeowners made the right choice when they asked him to represent them in the case," Grande noted.
To read a copy of the Supreme Court decision,
Pet Food Class Action Settlement Highest in US & Canada
Grande Law Offices has obtained the first certification and settlement in the United States of a class action lawsuit for consumer purchase and pet screening claims against pet food manufacturer Menu Foods for its sale of contaminated pet food. The case resulted in the highest settlement in the United States and Canada for any state or province.
Out of 120 cases filed nationwide, the case filed by Grande Law Offices was the only one to successfully stay in state court.
"We wanted to make sure that our class members got the protection of Hawaii's consumer statute, which is one of the strongest in the United States," Thomas Grande told media representatives at the press conference announcing the settlement.
"Our strategy worked," Grande noted. "We got $240,000 for consumer and pet screening claims for Hawai'i residents; the rest of the United States and Canada combined got $650,000. It emphasizes the importance of having Hawai'i courts resolve claims for Hawai'i's citizens," Grande said.
To see KITV news coverage, click here.
To see KHNL news coverage, click here.
To see K5 news coverage, click here.
To see KHON news coverage, click here.
To see Honolulu Star-Bulletin news coverage, click here.
To see Hawaii Reporter news coverage, click here.
|
