Quality Assurance


February, 2011

JM Eagle is very pleased to present you with a brief summary of some recent developments concerning allegations about the quality of JM Eagle’s PVC pipe. The charges are baseless and our customers deserve the facts, which are clearly supported by the many documents linked to on the right hand side of our quality assurance web page.

After an extensive investigation into the lawsuit’s allegations, the federal government declined to intervene in a lawsuit filed in its name on behalf of the disgruntled former JM Eagle employee by the plaintiffs contingency fee law firm of Phillips & Cohen. Since then, California, Florida, Massachusetts, and Indiana have also decided not to join this legal action against us. Tennesse and Delaware have taken rare steps of withdrawing their original intervention from the suit after further reviewing facts of the case.

The decision of these entities supports the growing sentiment that the case against JM Eagle is baseless.

Several pretrial rulings recently issued by the judge in the case were welcomed as significant victories by JM Eagle. Among them:

  • Judge Wu dismissed hundreds of extraneous claims that plaintiff’s counsel sought to pile on the suit to boost its sagging credibility including throwing out all “complaints in intervention” and private developer claims.
  • Two more states New Mexico and New York have been removed from the suit.
  • The Judge also sided with JM Eagle to strike racially insensitive and derogatory references to the ethnicity of the company’s owners from the suit after plaintiff’s counsel refused several requests to remove it on their own.


Results of recent tests by the independent Jana Laboratories confirm the quality and reliability of JM Eagle PVC pressure pipe - both currently and during the period covered by the lawsuit. The lab conducted the tests on pipe from the same batch provided to the federal government for its own inquiry. Our pipe has been certified by the industry-standard certification bodies NSF International and UL as well as independent authorities to meet all long-term strength requirements.

A key witness for the plaintiff in the lawsuit denies saying the company took measures that intentionally compromised the quality of its pipe -- an accusation that was falsely contained in the lawsuit. Brian Wang, a former long-time plant manager, said in another sworn statement that he never acknowledged conspiring to sacrifice quality by using cheaper ingredients, speeding up production or failing to replace parts on extruders as the suit alleges. Wang worked for J-M Manufacturing - now JM Eagle - from 1984 to June 2006, including as a plant manager at three of the company’s 22 plants.

There is clear evidence that the former employee was also the architect of a kickback scheme to defraud JM Eagle, for which he was fired in 2005. JM Eagle has a sworn affidavit confirming he offered to inflate a claim in return for money sent to his home.

JM Eagle has invested more than $350 million over the past 15 years to employ the most modern manufacturing practices available to ensure that its products continue to set the standard for superior quality in the plastic-pipe industry.

JM Eagle stands ready to work with state and city officials, the heads of district water boards and other customers to examine the many flaws in this case closely. In recent months, we’ve been in contact with many public and private customers. Overwhelmingly, our partners understand that this case is without merit and based on a lone accuser out to enrich himself.

No company in our industry has passed as rigorous a test of its products as we have. Every bit of research has found that JM Eagle not only meets quality standards but exceeds many of those standards as well. With the addition of our unprecedented 50-year extended warranty there is no question JM Eagle has and will always stand behind the quality of its pipe.

We look forward to making our case in the upcoming trial and will continue to keep you informed about our progress against this scurrilous lawsuit. For JM Eagle, no responsibility is more important than the duty to communicate with our customers openly, honestly and often, and to provide the finest quality pipe.

Thank you,

Neal Gordon

Vice President of Marketing, JM Eagle