Samsung Class Action Says Galaxy and Note Phones May Catch Fire

A class action lawsuit alleges Samsung Galaxy and Note smartphones powered by lithium ion batteries pose the same risk of overheating and catching fire as those in the recently recalled Note7.

Four named plaintiffs, all from California, filed the Samsung Galaxy and Note class action lawsuit seeking to stop the sale of the subject phones and get compensation from Samsung. The plaintiffs say the batteries in these phones can overheat enough to catch fire.

The problem with these batteries, according to this Samsung Galaxy and Note class action lawsuit, lies in the volatile and flammable electrolyte material used to hold the charge.

According to a materials chemistry professor from MIT, if these Samsung Galaxy and Note batteries get hot enough – about 400 to 500 degrees centigrade – the material in the negative electrode starts giving off oxygen. Combining the fuel and the oxygen in the same place effectively turns the battery into, in the professor’s words, a “bomb.”

This effect, known as a “thermal runaway,” can drive temperatures as high as 1100 degrees Fahrenheit, the plaintiffs say. It can happen under several different circumstances, such as when the battery is overcharged or rapidly discharged, or if there is a defect or damage in the cell.

The Samsung Galaxy and Note class action lawsuit includes photographs of Samsung phones that show significant heat damage, with outer cases that appear melted and charred.

The plaintiffs note similar problems with the Samsung Note7, problems that led to a mandatory recall of that phone in October 2016.

Reports of those phones overheating, catching fire and even exploding in people’s hands have been the subject of a Samsung Note7 class action lawsuit filed a couple weeks ago in a federal court in New Jersey.

Plaintiffs say the Consumer Product Safety Commission responded to those reports by ordering a mandatory recall of the Note7, and the devices were purportedly banned from all air travel.

Samsung offered to replace each unit sold. But when replacement phones were not readily available, the company discontinued the Note7 entirely.

The proposed plaintiff Class would encompass all California persons who, within the four years preceding the filing of this action, purchased one of the subject Samsung Galaxy and Note phones in California – specifically, the S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, S6 Active, S7, S7 Edge, S7 Active, or Note5.

They also propose a subclass of Class Members who made their purchases within three years of the filing of this action, for purposes of bringing claims under the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act.

The plaintiffs seek a court order barring the company from continuing to sell the Samsung Galaxy and Note phones at issue and preventing the company from any further alleged violations of California consumer protection laws. They also seek an award of damages and restitution to cover their economic losses, plus court costs, attorneys’ fees, and interest.

The plaintiffs are represented by attorneys Anne Marie Murphy, Niall P. McCarthy and Eric J. Buescher of Cotchett Pitre & McCarthy LLP and Gene J. Stonebarger, Richard D. Lambert and Crystal L. Kelly of Stonebarger Law APC.

The Samsung Galaxy and Note Defective Battery Class Action Lawsuit is Demetrius Martin, et al. v. Samsung Electronics America Inc., et al., Case No. 3:16-cv-06391, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE February 22, 2017: A federal judicial panel will decide if four Samsung class action lawsuits should be consolidated into multidistrict litigation.  All four lawsuits allege that multiple Samsung smartphone models are prone to catching fire.

UPDATE 2: On March 1, 2018, Samsung Electronics America Inc. asked a California federal judge to force the plaintiffs and putative Class Members in a Samsung Galaxy overheating lawsuit to pursue their claims individually in arbitration.