Neil Hughes
The lawsuit was filed this month in a U.S. District Court in Connecticut by Great Northern Insurance Company. Great Northern made payments in excess of $75,000 to a client after an accidental fire occurred at their family's home.
According to the lawsuit, the fire marshal of the town of Glastonbury concluded that the blaze, which occurred on May 23, 2008, was caused by the "external system components" of the laptop found in the home.
"Unbeknownst to [the client], in 2007 and 2008, Apple had received numerous complaints posted on its own Apple store website alerting Apple to heating, burning and sparking problems with its MagSafe adapters," the suit reads.
"As a result of the aforementioned fire, [the family] sustained severe and extensive damage to their real and personal property and incurred additional living expenses."
Great Northern's lawsuit attempts to prove that the MagSafe adapter was "in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition" due to Apple. The complaint argues that Apple "manufactured and sold the MagSafe adapter in a condition that it knew, or should have known, subjected the property of others to foreseeable and unreasonable risk of harm."
Great Norther has asserted that because Apple "negligently designed and manufactured" the MagSafe adapter, it should be reimbursed for the fire damage that occurred in 2008.
According to the suit, the MacBook Pro and its MagSafe adapter were purchased in August 2007. It states that the computer and its charging accessory were used as intended, and "without abusing or misusing" them.
The latest lawsuit is in addition to one filed in 2009, when Apple was hit with a class-action complaint regarding fires allegedly started by MagSafe adapters. That complaint, filed on behalf of multiple users, claimed that normal day-to-day use destroyed the cable on the MagSafe adapter, potentially leading to sparks or fire.
Andrew Orr
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AppleInsider Staff
81 Comments
"What's that? They have 50 billion dollars in cash, you say? Hmmmmmmmm...frivolous lawsuit time!"
I too had my magsafe in my first gen MacBook Pro burn. I brought it into an Apple Store. At frist glance the "genius" said that it was a heath and safety hazard, and that I would not be able to leave the store with it. She took it in the back then came out 20 min later stating that i was out of warranty. She said her manager said it would be 350 to fix blah blah blah blah. After and email to Steve Jobs explaining my situation, I received a call, received a shipping box and sent it on its way.
So yes these magsafes are def a fire hazard.. I have pics.. and maybe a copy of the email somewhere.
"What's that? They have 50 billion dollars in cash, you say? Hmmmmmmmm...frivolous lawsuit time!"
That reimbursement would be peanuts. It is not a class action or patent infringement case.
Apple should have notified every registered user of a recall of the adapters in the first place.
Actually, the old MagSafe connect is very problematic. The cord gets lose from the connector, and often it burns the plastic at that spot. I had two adapters with this problem (a Macbook Pro and a Macbook).
No, I am not saying Apple is definitely to be blamed for this fire, but I would keep an open mind.
That reimbursement would be peanuts. It is not a class action or patent infringement case.
Apple should have notified every registered user of a recall of the adapters in the first place.
I've had a older models spark a bit.