New Jersey Court Grants Preliminary Settlement Approval in Defective Field Turf MDL

A New Jersey federal magistrate judge has preliminarily approved a class action settlement in multidistrict litigation over allegedly defective synthetic field turf which included plaintiffs in California, Florida, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

The suits alleged that FieldTurf USA, based in Calhoun, Georgia, installed artificial turf in 1,700 soccer, baseball and other sports venues in the United States from 2005 to 2012, generating $570 million. The lawsuits, half of which are class actions, were filed after a series of articles published in December by NJ Advance Media reported that the turf was defective.

The plaintiffs claimed that despite FieldTurf’s sworn statements that the specific turfs were defective, and then collecting an eight-figure recovery during a 2014 trial, the company still sold those same defective turfs to them.

“The fields were being sold as being basically superior and safer than grass,” said Daniel Bryson, a partner of Whitfield Bryson & Mason in Raleigh, North Carolina, who filed many of the cases, in May 2017. “But in a short time period, the synthetic grass was falling over, it was limp, and the fibers would split.”

On Tuesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne J. Bongiovanni of the District of New Jersey approved a May 3 settlement agreement and appointed Seeger Weiss and The Moskowitz Law Firm as class counsel for the settlement class. Carella, Byrne, Cecchi, Olstein, Brody & Agnello was appointed as liaison counsel for the settlement class. Bongiovanni said the settlement agreement and all of its terms are “fair, reasonable, and adequate under Rule 23.”

“Over the course of the ensuing weeks, terms and conditions of the settlement were debated and negotiated,” the motion said. “Ultimately, after vigorous arm’s-length negotiations, the parties came to agree upon the terms and conditions set forth in the settlement, which was fully executed on May 3, 2024.”

The district court also preliminarily appointed seven class representatives: Carteret, Hudson County, Levittown Union Free School District, Neshannock Township School District, Santa Ynez Valley Union High School District, the Newark School District, and Freemont.

In a motion for approval of the settlement, made by the plaintiffs in May, the parties held multiple negotiation sessions, including with the assistance of retired Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Marina Corodemus.

Monetary relief included in the proposed settlement divided claimants into two tiers. Tier one claimants must have complained in writing about the Duraspine fibers before Dec. 1, 2016. The first tier claims may choose either a cash payment of $7,500 or a credit award of $50,000. The credit award may be applied against the purchase of a new FieldTurf field, maintenance services or nonwarranty repairs.

Tier two claimants are those settlement class members who do not meet the definition of tier one, but are otherwise eligible, according to the motion. They are entitled to either a $2,000 cash payment or a credit award of $20,000.

The motion also stated that class counsel may apply to the court for up to $8.5 million in total for administrative notice costs, service awards, attorney fees, and reasonable, reimbursable out-of-pocket costs and expenses. Those fees will compensate class counsel, liaison counsel, and plaintiffs counsel.

Bongiovanni scheduled a final fairness hearing for Nov. 25.

Lead counsel for FieldTurf, L. Reid Skibell, of Glenn Agre Bergman & Fuentes, and Diane P. Sullivan, of Weil, Gotshal & Manges, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Plaintiffs’ counsel, Christopher A. Seeger, Jennifer R. Scullion and Christopher L. Ayers of Seeger Weiss; Adam M. Moskowitz and Howard M. Bushman of The Moskowitz Law Firm; and James E. Cecchi and Michael A. Innes of Carella, Byrne, Cecchi, Brody & Agnello, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.