A Washington, D.C.-based law firm, Mehri & Skalet PLLC, says it is "investigating" a potential class action suit against Columbus, Ohio-based Safelite AutoGlass, alleging that the company, in its role as a third-party administrator (TPA), encourages consumers to have their windshields replaced in instances when they could be repaired. Additionally, the firm says it is looking into steering allegations.
"Safelite, acting as an agent for major insurance companies, routinely tells consumers that their cracked windshields must be replaced, even though many or most windshield cracks can be safely and effectively repaired for much less money," alleges the firm in an announcement about the investigation. "In addition, it routinely refers customers to its own repair shops for windshield replacement services."
The firm is encouraging consumers who have had their windshields replaced by Safelite but feel the windshields could have been repaired to contact them.
Mehri & Skalet was founded in 2001 and focuses on class action suits and complex litigation, according to its website, and has been involved in suits involving several large corporations, including Coca-Cola, Texaco Inc., Ford Motor Co., Morgan Stanley, Wachovia, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Verizon.
A class action suit requires several prerequisites, according to information from the Tech Law Journal. Among these, the class has to be so numerous that "the joinder of all members is impracticable," and there must be questions of law common to all members of the class. If the case were to come to fruition, the court would have to certify that a class actually exists with these common factors before the case could proceed.
Merhi & Skalet had not yet responded to requests for comment as to the origins of the investigation.
Safelite spokesperson Melina Metzger provided the following statement in response to the announcement about the possible investigation.
"Mehri & Skalet has no basis for a class action lawsuit against Safelite," she says. "Safelite AutoGlass is in fact a leader in offering repairs as an alternative to replacement when appropriate."
