A recent Bloomberg Law story by Julie Steinberg, “Plycem $12.5 Million Allura Siding Class Deal Gets Final Nod,” reports that a $12.5 million nationwide class settlement resolving allegations that Plycem USA LLC and Elementia USA Inc. sold failure-prone siding won a South Carolina federal court’s final approval.  Class members may opt for one of several compensation options, according to filings in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina.

Homeowners alleged Allura Siding made with fly ash tends to crack, peel, warp, and break off soon after installation despite the companies’ representations that the products last 50 years. Proposed class suits were combined in a multidistrict proceeding in the South Carolina court.

The settlement covers homeowners with siding produced at Plycem’s Roaring River, N.C., plant and installed on homes between Feb. 18, 2014, and Sept. 1, 2015; and Plycem’s plant in White City, Ore., and installed between Feb. 18, 2014, and Sept. 1, 2014.  There were no objections, and only 19 opt-outs were filed, “a fraction of the size” of the total settlement class, Judge David C. Norton said in approving the deal May 21.

A replacement and repair option provides $1 per square foot toward the cost of cement board equal to the size of the replacement area, plus $4.75 per square foot to offset additional costs such as labor.   A “quick cash” option provides $4.25 per square foot for areas with qualifying damage.

Another option provides $4.25 per square foot for partial repairs, with additional compensation of $4.25 per square foot of the remaining portions after the class member provides proof of repair.  The court also approved $4 million in attorneys’ fees and $102,000 in reimbursement for litigation costs, some 32.8% of the settlement fund.

There was no objection to the attorneys’ fee motion, the court said.  The fee award is in line with percentage awards in other class actions, it said.  And the request is less than twice the attorneys’ lodestar, their hours spent on the case multiplied by the hourly rates. That is reasonable, the court said.

The complexity of this building product defect case exceeds that of the average product defect case in investigation, legal analysis, negotiations, and settlement structure, it said.  The court also approved incentive awards of $5,000 each to the eight lead plaintiffs.