Three Galaxy Note 7 Owners File Class Action Lawsuit Against Samsung Due to ‘Economic Injuries’
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Three Galaxy Note 7 owners have filed the first US class action lawsuit against Samsung in New Jersey. This latest chapter in the exploding Note 7 saga doesn’t involve damage to property or physical injury, but rather “economic injuries”.
In the suit, which was just made public on Tuesday, the three disgruntled customers accuse Samsung of “breach of warranty, breach of good faith and common law fraud.” Specifically, they seek damages for the monthly plan and device charges that they had to continue to pay for phones that they couldn’t safely use, while awaiting replacements.
Samsung and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission issued their original recall of the unsafe devices on September 9, advising all Note 7 owners to power down their phones. Samsung began offering replacement devices on September 21 and eventually recalled those as well when it became apparent that they were also unsafe. It has since agreed to replace the phones or reimburse owners for the cost of the device, but that’s not the issue at hand.
The plaintiffs state that in the confusion following the first recall, they were forced to wait “several days, and even weeks” for a replacement device. During that time, the suit alleges, they continued to be charged for data and voice services by their cell phone carriers. The suit goes on to allege that as a result of Samsung’s bungled recall, Note 7 owners incurred “millions of dollars in fees” for phones they couldn’t safely use..
The complaint was filed by the McCuneWright law firm, which is also involved in the ‘touch disease’ lawsuit against Apple. It remains to be seen whether the judge assigned to the suit will approve its class action status and allow it to proceed.
The Note 7 initially debuted to rave reviews and has since become the biggest disaster in modern smartphone history, with Samsung permanently ending production and sales of the flawed device. Samsung said earlier this week that it expects to post a loss of $3 billion for the next six months ending in March.
