A lawsuit involving Joanna Gaines’ furniture line recently reached a settlement, meaning the co-star of HGTV’s Fixer Upper “will not have to sit for a deposition.” What was the lawsuit about, though? Who filed the suit? According to court documents, the lawsuit was filed by “Standard Furniture Manufacturing against its Chinese suppliers LF Products for delivering chairs and sofas labeled ‘top grain leather’ and using water buffalo hide instead.”
A lawsuit involving Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Home furniture line recently reached a settlement, meaning the co-star of HGTV’s Fixer Upper “will not have to sit for a deposition.” What was the lawsuit about, though? Who filed the suit? According to court documents, the lawsuit was filed by “Standard Furniture Manufacturing against its Chinese suppliers LF Products for delivering chairs and sofas labeled ‘top grain leather’ and using water buffalo hide instead.”
Though Gaines wasn’t mentioned as a “plaintiff or defendant in the lawsuit, LF Products subpoenaed Gaines to give a deposition due to the fact that the line of furniture being sold is part of her Magnolia Home line.” For those who don’t know, the Magnolia Home furniture line was designed by HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines with practicality and aesthetic in mind. The overall design of the line’s pieces combines utility and function for a look of simple sophistication, according to the Magnolia Home website.
When Gaines learned that LF was using buffalo hide instead of top grain leather on many products in her Magnolia Home furniture line, she “requested $150,000 per hour to sit in on a deposition, but was denied by a federal judge back in January.”
It’s important to note, however, that Standard Furniture didn’t only file complaints against LF Products. In fact, in the lawsuit filed back in November of 2016, many other “Chinese-based business entities” were named, including “Alton Irvine Inc., doing business as True Innovations and True Designs Inc.” In the lawsuit, Standard Furniture alleged that “LF Products and True Designs Inc. shipped $600,000-worth of Magnolia Home furniture line in unsalable quality,” and noted that “hundreds of thousands of dollars in shoddy leather goods…now sit worthless in a warehouse.”
In its lawsuit, Standard Furniture called for a trial by jury, and noted that only about “10% of the $650,000 shipment was comprised of acceptable quality pieces.” How was the problem discovered, though? Well, according to the complaint:
“This ‘bait and switch’ was discovered in an embarrassing and damaging manner for Standard and IFM when their licensing partner Joanna Gaines was shipped and opened a box containing the defective furniture. It was immediately apparent to Ms. Gaines that the product was substandard and unsaleable.”
Additionally, Standard Furniture also requested a number of things, according to the lawsuit, including the following:
“Restitution and the disgorgement of all earnings, profits, compensation, benefits and other ill-gotten gains obtained by defendants, the approximately $650,000 paid for the defective products and related freight and customs charges, as well as damages, including punitive damages, for defendants’ tortious conduct, in an amount to be proven at trial, but believed to be in excess of $2 million.”
Sources:
Joanna Gaines won’t have to sit for deposition as lawsuit reaches settlement
‘Fixer Upper’ star Joanna Gaines demands $150G to take part in lawsuit deposition
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