Bose Seeks Dismissal of Water-Resistant Headphones Class Action

A Bose class action lawsuit alleging its water-resistant headphones are defective is simply a collection of consumer complaints and should be dismissed, says the manufacturer.

Plaintiffs accused the Bose Corporation of falsely advertising its headphones as resistant to water, showcasing sweaty athletes and telling consumers they could run in the rain with the headphones.

However, consumers report that the Bose SoundSport, SoundSport Free and SoundSport Pulse wireless headphones do not meet expectations.

Bose shot back, filing a motion to dismiss the class action lawsuit, calling the allegations “a kitchen-sink approach to pleading” and asking the court to dismiss the plaintiffs claims in their entirety.

“Bose Corporation manufactures consumer products, including premium headphones enjoyed by countless consumers,” states the company’s filing. “As with any consumer product, however, some percentage of headphones can stop working for any number of reasons, the large majority of the time reflecting the manner and circumstances of individual use and sometimes misuse. Stray accounts of consumer dissatisfaction, or even product failure, do not mean the product is defective.”

Bose contends that the headphone class action lawsuit should be dismissed for several reasons. First, the plaintiffs’ claims under Massachusetts law should be trimmed because only one of the plaintiffs have a connection to the state.

Warranty claims should be dismissed, according to Bose, because none of the plaintiffs have established that they asked the company to fix the problem. Bose says that it offered full refunds to the plaintiffs, but the plaintiffs responded by filing an amended complaint.

“Even setting aside these failures, Plaintiffs’ warranty claims fail for a host of other reasons. Most of the plaintiffs do not allege that Bose failed to repair or replace their headphones and therefore cannot claim that Bose breached the terms of its express warranty,” notes the company in its motion to dismiss.

Further, the Bose class action lawsuit should be dismissed because the plaintiffs do not include the following facts in their allegations; the state where the alleged misrepresentations took place; the serial numbers of the headphones they purchased; and the specific defects that should have been disclosed to consumers.

The missing serial numbers are of particular importance, notes Bose, because of the potential for an arbitration clause to apply.

“That critical fact will determine whether their Headphones were manufactured before an alleged design change and whether their claims are subject to a mandatory arbitration clause and class-action waiver,” states the motion to dismiss the Bose class action lawsuit.

The company also argues that certain plaintiffs’ claims should be dismissed as well based on readings of applicable state law.

The lead plaintiffs and proposed Class are represented by Sean K. Collins of the Law Offices of Sean K. Collins, Terence R. Coates of Markovits Stock & Demarco LLC, and Jeffrey Scott Goldenberg of Murdock Goldenberg Schneider & Groh LPA.

The Bose Water-Resistant Headphones Class Action Lawsuit is Pierre-­Noel, et al. v. Bose Corporation, Case No. 1:18­-cv-12207, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.

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