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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 also was burned on both my wrist by my Apple series 7 watch. Spoke with Apple many times and was given no answers. Told me to clean my watch and wear it on my right wrist but was burned again. Was told to go see a doctor. Sent pictures to Apple which clearly show a burn and not an irritation as they so called it. Went to my Dr and confirm 2nd degree burn. Apple stated that they cannot not help me. The warranty on my watch was expired. I have had the watch for over a year.
I also have a “bad apple tatoo” on both wrists. Got the watch for important health tracking. Now it’s just useless. I want to know if it will heal! If no refund for it, sign me up for the lawsuit.
I would like to be part of the Apple Watch class action lawsuit. My Apple Watch 3 was working fine until I looked down at it and the screen had broken all around the edge with jagged glass! I now think of that poor man that got that horrible cut! That could have been me! Wow!
I took it to the apple store today and they said that it had a swollen battery and I would have to pay $169 for the repairs and maybe more once they get it into the shop. My mouth dropped open and nothing I said would change their decision. They offered to trade it in for another new Watch and give me $10 for the Watch that broke due to apple design failure!! I was gobstopped!
Now I worry about my 2 kids that have apple watches and I was going to buy apple watches for my parents too! Not anymore!!
I honestly don’t think that this dangerous failure that apple made should be dependent on having apple care or not! And it certainly shouldn’t cost a dime to get it repaired at the least! I think that it’s recall time!!
i purchased an apple watch recently and it has burned both wrists. Since a like it so much i evened trying to place a band-aid between my skin and the watch and the burning sensation continues
I had purchased two apple se watches. Both of different colors and I also got a burn mark on my wrists from both watches. I did try alternating between wrists to not to develop two burns, one on each wrist.
Second time my Apple Watch series 5 left a circle burn mark on my wrist. I took a picture. It’s a circle about 5/16 inch. Why isn’t Apple doing something about this.
The watch band on apple SE is insufficient and your watch will just fall off! Mine did this when in the ocean and now it’s gone. Today I went to an inflatable aqua park and they had a sign stating “ do not wear apple watches on the park as they will fall off, $100 diving fee to find lost watches”. Obviously the band is not fit for purpose. Class action? Sign me up! I told apple and they said, too bad.
Add me
I was wearing my watch and went to look at the time, pulled me sleeve back and cut my finger in broken glass from my watch exploding. The face was completely off of it. Prior week before it burned my wrist.
On December 8th when I got home from work I also had a burn mark on my wrist from the sensor. I have worn apple watches for years and this is the first time I have been burned.
I got burn from it too. I contacted Apple. They said stop wearing it and buy a new band with no metal and don’t wear the watch too loose or too tight and keep cleaning the watch. That’s all they can do for me.