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Despite its efforts to have claims dismissed, Apple will have to face a class action lawsuit that takes issue with alleged defects in Apple Watches.
U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty did substantially reduce the claims in the Apple Watch screen defect class action lawsuit, but did not throw out the case entirely.
Judge McNulty preserved a claim of breach of express warranty in the case of some customers, but tossed two other allegations.
The Apple Watch defect class action lawsuit was filed by Gina Priano-Keyser in April 2019. She claimed that Series 1 and 2 (Second Generation) Apple Watches and Series 3 (Third Generation) Apple Watches possess a design defect. Allegedly, the defect causes the watches’ screens to shatter or crack unexpectedly.
According to Priano-Keyser, her watch’s screen cracked before her warranty was up. She aimed to represent both customers whose watches had failed before the warranty was up, and after.
Judge McNulty decided to allow Priano-Keyser to pursue breach of express warranty claims for customers whose watches failed before the warranty expired, but not on behalf of those customers whose watches failed after their warranty expired.
In reducing the number of claims in the Apple Watch class action lawsuit, Judge McNulty took a different tact than Apple did in arguing that the Apple Watch defect class action lawsuit should be dismissed as a whole.
Apple argued that Priano-Keyser, who had purchased a Series 3 watch, could not represent consumers who had purchased Series 1 and 2 watches. According to the judge, it was appropriate for Priano-Keyser to represent consumers who had purchased all three kinds of watches, in case the defect is the same.
Apple had also attempted to claim that Priano-Keyser’s allegations were not within the scope of Apple’s warranty for the watches, because they concerned a design defect and not a manufacturing one. However, Judge McNulty said that the distinction between a design defect and a manufacturing defect was not an appropriate one to make at this stage in the process.
According to the judge, a previous decision he had made in a different case pointed to the fact that the design versus manufacturing distinction should be made later.
He said that “where the distinction between a defect in design and defect in workmanship is a matter of semantics,” and because Priano-Keyser had sufficiently established that the alleged defect is a manufacturing problem, Apple’s characterization of the alleged defect “should not control whether the complaint survives.”
Have you experienced problems with your Apple Watch? Share your experiences in the comment section below.
The Apple Watch owners are represented by James Shah and Natalie Finkelman Bennett of Shepherd Finkelman Miller & Shah LLP, and by John Edgar and Brendan McNeal of Edgar Law Firm LLC.
The Apple Watch Screen Break Class Action Lawsuit is Gina Priano-Keyser v. Apple Inc., Case No. 2:19-cv-09162, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
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172 thoughts onApple Watch Class Action To Proceed, Court Rules
Hi there, my apple watch series 1 had the same issue! The screen popped off out of nowhere. The watch was getting charged when this happened! My watch is in mint condition otherwise. Please add me to the list. I called apple to report it and no further resolution was provided!
My series 6 belonged to someone else!! I bought it new in sealed box in Dec 2020 from an Apple store. I am 105 pound woman BP 109/68
There is data from a 230 lb man dated May who needs blood pressure medication!! BP 140/89
I have an Apple Watch Series 6 Space Gray Aluminum Case since January 14th, 2021 and it won’t stay charged and overheats. and I got very bad wrist burns, I haven’t worn it in days and still have visible marks. I Placed a complaint to Apple care but they do nothing, the store didn’t take the watch back because the complaint was over 30 days and the only other option was to upgrade and pay the difference to stainless steel Case but they won’t guarantee it won’t happen again.
Series 6 screen cracked 6 days after I go it for my birthday. Clasp didn’t latch and it fell a short distance. Ridiculously fragile for such an expensive device.
Apple Watch 6 burn to my wrist. Only had the watch since Christmas and it won’t stay charged and overheats.
My apple watch has started shocking me leaving my arm numb for several hours at a time and apple won’t even acknowledge the issue. This is ridiculous
I am in my late 70s, however I bought an Apple Series 3 for myself. I have had many Apple products, MacBooks, iPads and iPhones and have been an Apple customer for years and years. One night about a year ago, I woke up in the morning to find my watch screen black. I took it to an Apple Store and they found a tiny little crack in one of the corners. Apple refused to replace it or mend it. I had only had the watch a few months, however I hadn’t purchased a warranty. I live in Vancouver Canada.
My daughter has 1st degree burns from her Apple Watch series 5. The burn is the shape of the watch literally. She has a square burn at the top and a circle burn where it closes. I just called Apple to report it. How do we proceed they need to fix my baby arm. I am still paying for this watch, I didn’t sign up for a square and circle hazing tattoo. This is horrible:(
Series 6 watch is burning my wrist. I haven’t worn it in days and still have visible marks.
I bought the series 3 and immediately after opening it there was a small black spot. That has grown to half the screen. The watch has never been dropped or put in water.