Samsung Class Action Claims Remote Controls Cause Batteries to Leak

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A design defect in Samsung remote controls cause batteries to overheat and leak acid, according to a class action lawsuit.

Plaintiff Kim Sherwin of Illinois alleges the power supply in certain Samsung remote control units may cause their batteries to overheat and leak their acidic contents.

The remote controls at issue are Samsung’s double-sided QWERTY remotes. These remotes have typical TV-controlling features on one side and a full QWERTY keyboard, directional pad and ten-key number pad on the other, allowing the user to use the Smart TV more like a computer.

Sherwin says Samsung started shipping these remotes with some of its Smart TVs in 2011. Smart TVs that featured these particular remotes were priced higher than those that didn’t, she says, representing a premium that purchasers paid to get these feature-rich remotes.

Instead of using older infrared technology to communicate with the Smart TV, these Samsung remote controls are designed to connect via Bluetooth. Sherwin says the more constant connection involved in Bluetooth technology draws more power from its power supply than does infrared technology.

What Samsung allegedly failed to do was to design an adequate power supply into these Bluetooth Samsung remote controls. Sherwin says most Bluetooth devices use a robust rechargeable battery to provide a steady and adequate source of power.

These Samsung remote controls, however, use only four disposable AAA batteries. Sherwin says that with normal use of the Samsung remote, the battery compartment produces excessive heat, causing the remote to fail and the batteries to leak. Even during normal function, Sherwin says the batteries are exhausted in a matter of weeks.

Samsung owners have voiced similar complaints in online product reviews, Sherwin says, reporting that their Samsung remote controls have been “sizzling,” “popping” and “leaking.”

The Samsung class action lawsuit, which was filed this summer, quotes a QWERTY remote owner who reported that after one set of batteries leaked battery acid all over the inside of the remote, the next set of replacement batteries did the same thing after a few days of use. Another owner says the batteries in her Samsung remote got hot enough to melt the battery holder.

Compounding the problem is the fact that the Samsung remote is the primary means of controlling the TV, according to Sherwin. So when the remote fails, the owner is allegedly stuck with a TV with impaired functionality, she says.

Sherwin seeks to represent a plaintiff Class consisting of all individuals in the U.S. who purchased a BN59-01134B Samsung remote or a Samsung TV packaged with such a remote control.

She seeks a damage award including statutory and punitive damages, litigation expenses and attorneys’ fees, and pre- and post-judgment interest.

Sherwin is represented by attorneys J. Dominick Larry and Benjamin H. Richman of Edelson PC and Stefan L. Coleman of the Law Offices of Stefan Coleman PA.

The Samsung Remote Control Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Kim Sherwin v. Samsung Electronics America Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-07535, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.