Courts

because she bought an SXRD rear-projection TV and alleges it had a defective “optical block” that caused yellow stains, green haze and other “color anomalies” to appear on the screen, her complaint said. The other lawsuits will remain active if the court approves the Cardenas settlement agreement. Under its proposed settlement with Cardenas, Sony agreed to extend warranty coverage to a total of four years for each model of TV, the documents said. “While each model has generally the same length of warranty extension, some models have different ending dates because the extensions are based upon the models’ release dates to the market,” they said. The last of the extended warranties expires July 2011, they said. Sony also has agreed to provide “enhanced warranty fulfillment,” they said. For example, Sony will create, train and maintain a “dedicated team” of technical reps to man toll-free phone lines to diagnose problems or arrange for replacement parts or in-home service visits, they said. Should Sony be unable to ship a replacement optical block for 14 days after the phone diagnosis, it will offer the consumer a $200 to $700 check, depending on the model, as an “accommodation,” they said. Sony also has agreed to bear all costs of notifying the class about the settlement, including placing two 1/8-page ads a week apart in USA Today, they said. Cardenas’s lawyers “conducted extensive document discovery” and “traveled extensively to conduct interviews with present and former Sony employees,” they said. They began settlement talks with Sony in September, they said. Among those interviewed were Michael Ehlers, Sony vice president for service, Tim McGowan, Sony’s vice president, TV Engineering of America Group, and Frank Medeiros, former quality assurance manager at Sony’s Mount Pleasant, Pa., factory where the sets were assembled, they said. The factory has since been closed.