Anderson Windows is a division of W.P. Flowers Inc., an American manufacturer of window films. During the time frame of these events Anderson Windows took advantage of and discriminated against Black homeowners, forcing them to move out of their homes and lose all equity in them. This discrimination was caught on tape and exposed by The Color Action Project, an organization that tracks discrimination.
Anderson Windows Class Action Lawsuits
Class Action lawsuit: A class action lawsuit is when one or more people band together in a lawsuit to bring about a court case to be tried in a court of law. Classes may be general, but there are Anderson Windows cases in which there were sub-classes of people who were included in the lawsuit. A sub-class is a category of people. In the Anderson Windows class action lawsuit, there were eight sub-classes of people who were plaintiffs.
The first class action lawsuit was filed by the complaint was filed by The Color Action Project, an organization that tracks discrimination.
The lawsuit was then referred to as a Pertaining Class. The complaint states that defendant-company, Anderson Windows, “purposely designed its program to exclude African Americans and other persons in violation of the federal Fair Housing Act and its Title VI.” It is within the purview of The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).
The complaint further states that defendant “made the deliberate and intentional decision to violate the federally enacted guarantee of fair housing.” The complaint further goes on to state that the “decision and intent” to discriminate were “based on the demography of the communities in which Anderson Windows stores.”
The second class consisted of the seven sub-classes of people who were originally included in the original complaint.
They were named, in order of their date of enrollment; Rosella Whitlock, Florence Atkins, Eddie Wise, Hazel Parks, Roy Williams, andopedecia Brown. All of these people are plaintiffs in this lawsuit. This class action lawsuit ultimately settled out of court.
After both lawsuits were settled, and the class action lawsuit was dismissed, the case was brought to a jury trial.
There, Anderson Windows presented its defense against the claims of the complaint. During this time the case was taken to the jury-trial stage, and defendants presented their defenses to this issue. A judge, sitting without a jury, found that defendants did not have enough evidence to hold the position they had claimed. These verdicts found the company in financial trouble and discontinued any future operations.
As you can see, the Anderson Windows Class Action Lawsuit represents more than just a group of African American homeowners who were victims of discrimination.
The lawsuit was to prove that Anderson Windows did not want to hire or promote its employees because of race, and it was also to prove that they discriminated against all sub-groups of its employees. As you can see, this is more than just a typical class action lawsuit. The Anderson Windows Class Action Lawsuit has become an important symbol for many of us who have experienced the unfortunate events that this company has faced. Hopefully, we will see more Class Action Lawsuits in the future!
