Roger Fingas
A lawsuit launched this week accuses the company of knowingly ignoring a problem with Apple Watch batteries causing them to swell and break the screen.
Filed on behalf of plaintiff Gina Priano-Keyser through the U.S. District Court for New Jersey, the suit argues Apple is committing fraud and breach of warranty, often choosing to label incidents accidents and deny discounted warranty repairs. The company has offered free repairs in the past.
In the complaint, lawyers for Priano-Keyser say she bought a Series 3 Watch in Oct. 2017, and that in July the next year its screen suddenly detached and cracked during charging. Her daughter tried to push the screen back in, but the Watch has reportedly been "unusable" since.
As evidence of a broader trend the complaint points to more than a dozen similar anecdotes on Apple's support forums over a matter of years. It also suggests that the situation is a potential safety hazard, as some people have already suffered "cuts and burns."
Attorneys are pursuing class action status, the defined class being any New Jersey resident who's a present or former owner of a Series 1, 2, or 3 bought in the state.
A similar suit by the same lawfirm — Shepherd, Finkelman, Miller & Shah — was launched in California last summer, but dismissed in large part because it didn't identify a responsible defect. That issue is addressed here, specifically pointing to "aging or otherwise faulty" lithium-ion batteries, or else other defective components that might impact them.
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Malcolm Owen
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
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Marko Zivkovic
23 Comments
Did the individual use appropriately certified charging equipment? Was there evidence of the battery having expanded? When the individual’s daughter tampering with or trying to repair on her own, that would void any warranty and Apple would be in the right to not repair the device.
The article doesn’t mention it but was the watch brought into an Apple Store for service? If so, what was the outcome? Or are they just trying to sue without even bothering to contact Apple at all?
Companies get sued every day. I get class action claim letters from stuff I bought years ago and had forgotten about. Suing is one thing. Getting a judgement is another thing all together. The plaintiffs will get a coupon and the lawyers will get a couple of $million. We’ll probably never hear about this lawsuit after today just like all the others that have been announced and disappear into the legal rain forest. I remember a lawsuit against Apple probably twenty years ago. It had something to do with OS 9 and I was part of the “class”. Know what I got eventually? A free copy of OS 9 on a CD. But since this involves Apple the tech media will try to hang it around Apple’s neck like a dead Albatross. They always do.
And you’d have your daughter push on the broken glass why?