Fire Hazard Affects More Samsung Smartphones, Class Action Claims

A Pennsylvania woman claims there’s an overheating problem with several models of Samsung smartphones, not just the Galaxy Note 7.

While Samsung received a lot of negative attention earlier this year when some of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones overheated and caught fire, plaintiff Claire Gilligan now alleges the same problem extends to several other Samsung smartphones.

The Samsung class action lawsuit says these other phones use batteries that are similar or identical to those in the Galaxy Note 7 and are therefore prone to the same overheating problem.

These Samsung smartphones include the S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, S6 Active, S7, S7 Edge, S7 Active, and Note 5.

Gilligan claims that by designing Samsung smartphone batteries to have the longest battery life with the shortest charge times, the company demanded more performance from these batteries than they could provide without creating a safety hazard.

She alleges the drive to squeeze greater performance out of these batteries led Samsung to cut corners. By designing some models with an integrated (i.e., non-removable) battery, Samsung removed safety features that are inherent in a non-integrated battery, the plaintiff claims.

Gilligan also alleges the batteries for the affected phones were never vetted through independent testing. She says Samsung is the only major smartphone manufacturer that relies solely on in-house testing of its batteries.

As a result, Gilligan claims, several different models of Samsung smartphones are prone to overheating, explosion and fire.

Despite being aware of the problems with these affected phones, Samsung has continued to market these phones as reliable, Gilligan says. The company has failed to warn its customers of the risk of overheating and fire posed by these Samsung smartphones, she claims.

Gilligan says she’s had to replace her own Galaxy S7 four times since purchasing it sometime in March 2016. Each phone overheated under normal use, she claims, causing its applications to fail.

She also claims she had to get a replacement charger after her original charger became excessively hot, emitting smoke and the smell of burned plastic.

Gilligan says if she had known in advance about the problems with these Samsung smartphone batteries, she would have paid less for one or would have avoided buying an S7 altogether.

Her claims echo those brought just a couple months ago in another Samsung smartphone class action lawsuit filed in a California federal court. Plaintiffs there also alleged that several different models of Samsung smartphone have the same overheating problem as the Galaxy Note 7.

Gilligan proposes to represent a plaintiff Class that would encompass all persons in the U.S. who purchased one of the affected Samsung smartphones within the applicable statutory limitations periods.

She is asking the court for an order requiring Samsung to offer owners of affected smartphones a refund and exchange program similar to the one already set up for Galaxy Note 7 owners. She also seeks an award of damages, restitution, attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation.

Gilligan is represented by attorneys Lori G. Feldman and Courtney E. Maccarone of Levi & Korsinsky LLP and Janine L. Pollack of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Herz LLP.

The Samsung Smartphones Defective Battery Class Action Lawsuit is Claire Gilligan v. Samsung Electronics America Inc., Case No. 1:16-cv-09803, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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.