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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
I bought an Apple Watch 4 less than 2 years ago from Costco. They made it seem like they would cover anything wrong up to 2 yrs so I didn’t buy Apple Care. I just took it in water (less than 6 inches) for the first time after putting it in the water mode and later that night, when I tried charging it, it heated up way too much so I let it cool down. Now I can’t select anything on the bottom half of the screen. Apple won’t help. They basically said I had to pay to repair it almost the same price as a new one. This was a manufacturing defect, it is supposed to be water resistant.
I experienced the swollen battery problem as well and was told my watch was out of warranty.
I have a series 1. I am retired so I don’t wear it every day. But the face just popped off. I don’t understand why if a car is determined to have a defective part issue…it gets fixed by the dealer/manufacturer….out of warranty or not. This is an issue of a defective battery that has been going on for at least 6 years…Why can a $2 Trillion company allowed to get by with this? Please add me to the suit if you can.
I was swimming yesterday and my Apple Watch screen popped loose. It is a generation 3. Can I get in the lawsuit? I called Apple today and they did not want to do anything for me. I have an appointment scheduled to go to the Apple store on Friday.
My Series 3 screen just became mostly detached. It had not been dropped/hit, etc. Spent 2 hours on chat today with Apple with no resolution! Of course my watch is more than 3 years old, so they’re saying it’s out of the “repair program time frame”. This is absolutely ridiculous!! You’re not going to repair a known defect because it didn’t happen to break during a certain time frame?? I didn’t even know about the defect until this happened a few days ago. WTH, Apple!!?? We have been very loyal Apple customers, spending thousands of $$ ever since the iPod. I am disgusted!
Also, please add my case to the class action!
This just happened to my Series 3 GPS Aluminum 38 mm Apple watch. I was standing in an outside line and the whole glass popped off and landed on the pavement. I wouldn’t have noticed right then had the person in back of me not said something. I called Apple when I got home and the person I talked to said I qualified for it to be fixed at no cost. I was sent a box to put my watch in to send to Apple for repairs.
I didn’t hear from them for over a week. I finally did this past Friday and they sent me an email stating that there was an issue with my watch that wasn’t mentioned in the original repair request. They claim that the batter is not swollen and therefore not eligible for the quality program. They say that it requires whole unit replacement. So I immediately called support and spent close to two hours with two different people who proceeded to tell me there was no one in a position higher than them to speak with after they said I was negligent with my watch according to what the repair technicians observed. I asked him to clarify and he beat around the bush. He basically blamed me for a hairline crack around the edge which “caused it to pop off.” I asked him if that hairline crack could have possibly have been from when it hit the pavement after falling 3 feet. He refused to comment.
I was given 3 options: pay $159 to repair it, have it returned unrepaired, or let them recycle it. So I got the names of both individuals and their positions. I find it hard to believe there is no position higher at Apple than a senior advisor. Give me a break. The first guy was kind, but the last one was very rude. He also told me that there was no way for me to talk to the repair technician making the decision. He also refused to give me a name, which leads me to believe he was acting on his own and just being obstinate.
In the end, I contacted Legal Shield and will be speaking to an attorney who handles things like this. I’ll let them do the dirty footwork like I pay them to do. I’m tired of big corporations not standing by their product and blaming the customer.
Series 0 (first generation), and every subsequent watch since. I STUPIDLY bought the over $1,200 Stainless Steel Edition. It’s been treated like a baby. Perfect shape. Except when the screen popped off while sitting on the charger because of a swollen battery. Apple is fixing for under $100 but had they notified me of the extended warranty I would have had the battery replaced when they first knew of this issue. On a separate note, one of my MacBook Pro’s (2015) just did the exact same thing. The battery swelled bending the frame, raising the track pad, and keyboard. It’s now doesn’t work at all. NOT ONLY will Apple not cover it, they won’t even repair it because it’s “obsolete.” I very much look forward to joining the next class action suit against them involving MacBook’s! They told me this was normal. After I stopped laughing I asked, “if it’s normal, why do I have Windows based computers in my electronic collection that are almost 30 years old and not a single one of their batters has swollen and destroyed my computer? This is the beginning of the end for Apple. You can ONLY charge TOP DOLLAR if you truly support and back your products. I’m done with them.
I had a similar issue with the Apple Watch first gen the display just popped off due to a swollen battery and they charged me $278 for repair.
I have the series 3, 38mm aluminum apple watch and this just happened. Apple is offering free repair – but only within 3 years if purchase. Mine happens 3 yrs and 3 months after the purchase. anything I can do?
I bought the Apple Watch SE series and I’ve gotten a bad burn which is burning and looks scalding and dry.