PPG to Appeal Verdict

    ST. PAUL, Minn.--Feb. 15, 2002--Officials with PPG Industries today said they would appeal a federal jury's decision here yesterday to award Marvin Windows and Doors $136 million in a breach-of-warranty suit against the coatings manufacturer.
    Marvin, of Warroad, Minn., alleged PILT wood preservative from PPG failed to prevent rot in its wood windows manufactured during the late 1980s.
    The company, which said the verdict was unexpected, continues to maintain that PILT preservative is not defective, citing the fact that the product has been in use 20 years.
    The original suit was filed in April 1994. A district judge threw out the case in 1999, a decision that Marvin appealed. The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals dismissed 12 of 13 claims, including fraud. The appeal court, however, allowed Marvin to move forward with a jury trial on a breach-of-warranty claim. The trial began Oct. 22.

    Pittsburgh-based PPG is a global supplier of coatings, glass, fiber glass and chemicals. Sales in 2001 were $8.2 billion.