In re Lawnmower Engine Horsepower Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation

Class Counsel Heins Mills & Olson, PLC and Morrison Fenske and Sund, P.A. have reached settlements with all Defendants in In re Lawnmower Engine Horsepower Marketing and Sales Practices Litigation, MDL No. 1999. The settlements resolve sixty-nine actions alleging state and federal consumer fraud, antitrust, RICO and other claims against ten defendant groups. Actions were filed in all fifty states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico and were transferred by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation to Judge Lynn Adelman in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, who has preliminarily approved the settlements.

Five settlement agreements were reached, totaling $65 million in cash: (1) $51 million will be paid by a “Group of Six” defendants comprised of Sears Roebuck & Co., Briggs & Stratton Corporation, Deere & Company, Husqvarna Outdoor Products, Inc., Tecumseh Products Company, and The Toro Company; (2) $7.5 million will be paid by American Honda Motor Company; (3) $3.5 million will be paid by Kohler Co.; (4) $3 million will be paid by Kawasaki Motors Corp., USA; and (5) MTD Products Inc settled by turning over evidence and cooperating with Plaintiffs during the litigation.

After the Court's final approval of the settlements, expected this summer, Class Members will receive up to $35 per walk-behind lawn mower and $75 per riding lawn mower purchased since 1994. Class Members who submit claim forms will receive cash and the warranty extension described below. Detailed information, including claim forms, the settlement agreements and other information can be found at www.LawnMowerClass.com, which will be active after the Court approves the notice plan.

All Class Members who purchased a lawn mower with an engine manufactured and originally warranted by Briggs & Stratton, Kawasaki, Kohler, Toro or Tecumseh will receive a warranty extension of one year on their engine. The warranty extension will begin after the Court's final approval of the settlements, expected this summer. This warranty program is valued at potentially over $1 billion.

The warranties will cover the same types of repair that the original engine warranties covered. Class Members whose original engine warranties are still in effect when the settlements become final will receive a one-year warranty extension after those original warranties expire. Class Members whose warranties are already expired will receive a new one-year warranty beginning the date the settlements become final. Class Members can get warranty service at thousands of company-authorized independent repair shops located throughout the United States. All that is required is that Class Members submit a claim form (sometime before the extended warranty expires) to obtain a warranty certificate prior to any warranty work being done.

In addition to the cash and warranty program, Defendants Sears, Briggs & Stratton, Deere, Husqvarna, Tecumseh, Toro, Kohler, Kawasaki, and MTD Products Inc are required to change how they test and label lawn mower and lawn mower engine horsepower.

The new rules require Defendants to obtain a “Certified Power Rating” before they are permitted to label any engine with horsepower. This standard is a new, transparent horsepower testing protocol that was developed after extensive negotiation between the parties and their engineering experts.

Certified Power Rating test results will be publicly available within 30 days after Certified Power Rating results are obtained. The written materials with the lawn mower at retail stores must also identify where the consumer can view the Certified Power Rating test results.

The testing equipment, the tests themselves, and the test results must be certified by a “Certified Engine Tester,” who is an independent testing entity or person who is not employed by any engine manufacturer, lawn mower manufacturer, or other Defendant in this litigation.