Nationwide Class and State Sub-Class Certification Denied

An Edgeworth Economics team, led by Dr. John H. Johnson, was retained by Carrier, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corporation, in a matter in which Plaintiffs alleged that Carrier failed to properly disclose that certain HVAC systems it sold were defective due to the presence of a chemical rust inhibitor that caused the systems to malfunction. Plaintiffs proposed both a nationwide class as well as multiple state sub-classes, and Dr. Johnson was retained to consult and testify on behalf of Carrier to assess Plaintiffs’ theory of economic injury and their model of class-wide damages. Dr. Johnson concluded that Plaintiffs’ damages models could not be applied on a class-wide basis because the effect of any disclosure on the price a purchaser would have paid for an air conditioning system would be highly individualized. In denying class certification for the proposed class, the judge agreed, stating that “individualized questions regarding reliance, materiality, and causation would overwhelm each of plaintiffs’ claims.”