Lowe's

Lowe's Drywall Settlement Gets Closer to Final Approval

According to Farrell (2011), nearly seven thousand homeowners filed a class action suit against Lowe’s for selling tainted drywall that was produced in China. The plaintiffs’ various complaints, as a result of the installation of the drywall, ranged from smelling a foul odor in their homes to corrosion of air-conditioners, appliances, and electrical wiring (Sapien & Kessler, 2010). According to Sapien & Kessler (2010) the Plaintiffs also exhibited health hazards such as respiratory problems, migraines, eye irritation and nose bleeds. The original settlement offered the plaintiffs a minimum of a $50 gift certificate to a maximum of $4,500 in cash and gift cards if they proved that they purchased their drywall from Lowe’s. The maximum offer of $4,500 was amended to a maximum of $100,000 after a public investigation by the news media announced that the attorneys representing the case received “Big Fees” and the plaintiffs were “offered small payouts” (Farrell, 2010). Lowe’s denied selling defective drywall. Additionally, the company contended that they have never sold Chinese drywall.

Negotiating Style

The settlement was representative of a win-win and win-lose outcome. The win-win outcome was that Lowe’s amended its original payout to a higher compensation. Perhaps that strategy conveyed to the plaintiffs that “I want to maintain a relationship, so I want you to win as well”. On the other hand, although the plaintiffs were compensated up to $100,000 which means that they did win and Lowe’s lost, they still lost because the settlement did not take into consideration that there were medical issues as well. Even though Lowe’s compensated the plaintiffs, the company still came out as a winner because the compensation packages were not enough to settle the problems that the plaintiffs were faced with in order to make the repairs to their homes and their lives.