WASHINGTON, December 4 (RIA Novosti) – A major US wood flooring chain is being sued over business practices that allegedly included the illegal purchase of lumber from protected forests in the Russian Far East, the Virginia Gazette has reported.
Lawyers acting on behalf of Lumber Liquidators stockholder Gregg Kiken filed the suit against the Virginia-based firm and three of its executives November 26. Kiken alleges that the company’s business practices damaged himself and other investors, according to the newspaper.
Kiken complains in the suit that Lumber Liquidators violated a US law that bans the importation of illegally sourced wood products, the Virginia Gazette reported Tuesday.
The suit cites a 2013 report by the non-profit Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), which alleged that Lumber Liquidators knowingly purchased wood that had been illegally harvested in the Russian Far East from the Suifenhe Xingjia Economic and Trading Company, a Chinese firm that operates three factories in China and 14 sawmills in Russia.
Kiken also alleged that the wood imported by Lumber Liquidators via the same Chinese company did not comply with US standards.
The suit cited a June 20 report published on a stock market news website alleging that the firm’s wood was more than three times over the legal limit for formaldehyde emissions, which are known to be carcinogenic, according to the Virginia Gazette.
The suit also alleged that Lumber Liquidators made statements that were materially false and misleading, and that the company faces serious financial punishments and settlements as a consequence, with potentially thousands of plaintiffs facing significant economic damages due to the company’s actions.
Three US federal agencies raided the headquarters of Lumber Liquidators in September, the Virginia Gazette reported Tuesday.
At the time of writing, Lumber Liquidators had not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
