Apple Agrees to Mediation in iMessage Class Action Lawsuit

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On Monday, the plaintiff who alleged that Apple Inc. kept her and other Class Members from receiving text messages using iMessage once they switched from the popular iPhone mobile device agreed to take her claims out of California federal court to alternative dispute resolution.

Adrienne Moore, the lead plaintiff in this Apple iMessage class action lawsuit, had alleged in her complaint filed in May of this year that when she changed her smart phone from an iPhone 4S to a Samsung Galaxy S5, she was unable to send or receive text messages from her contacts using Apple’s iMessage service. According to Moore, this amounted to a breach of contract by Apple.

Apple device users can send and receive texts, documents, digital photos, videos, contact information, and group text messages to each other using wireless internet networks with Apple’s iMessage service and app. Apple developed this service as an alternative to using Short Message Service or Multimedia Message Service text messaging which generally use data transfers, potentially costing users more money. There is no SMS charge for a text sent through iMessage; it is treated as just an additional data transfer.

Moore claimed in the Apple class action lawsuit that she used iMessage on her iPhone 4 to text with other Apple device users through a cell phone service contract with Verizon Wireless, but when she switched from her iPhone 4S in favor of the Samsung Galaxy, which doesn’t support iMessage, she didn’t receive many texts she expected to from other Apple users as standard text messages, despite having the same phone number and wireless service provider. She also alleged that Apple’s help page tells users this glitch in service could continue as long as 45 days. She claimed that Apple breached her contract with her wireless service, Verizon, and should be held accountable for the breach.

The plaintiff alleged in her original iMessage class action lawsuit that if she had known Apple would not send her text messages when she switched to a non-Apple device, she would not have downloaded and used the iMessage service and Messages application, or she would not have purchased an Apple device. Moore also claimed that Apple’s motive is to discourage Apple iPhone users from switching to other types of smart phones and creates an unfair advantage in the competitive smart phone market in violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act.

The parties have agreed to attempt to resolve the Apple iMessage class action lawsuit using private mediation, a type of alternative dispute resolution, rather than in California federal court. U.S. District Judge Lucy H. Koh agreed to move the case into private mediation. The judge signed an order on Monday that showed the parties would meet and confer about a mediation date after the pleadings were settled.

Moore, is represented by Roy A. Katriel of the Katriel Law Firm.

The Apple Unreceived Text Message Class Action Lawsuit is Adrienne Moore v. Apple Inc., Case No. 5:14-cv-02269, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On Aug. 4, 2015, a federal judge refused to certify the Apple iMessage class action lawsuit after finding that the proposed Class was too broad.