Lenovo Hit with Another Calif. Spyware Class Action Lawsuit

On March 10, a Superfish spyware class action lawsuit was filed against Lenovo (United States) Inc., alleging the computer manufacturer conspired with Superfish Inc. to secretly install malicious software onto Lenovo computers before these items are sold to consumers. This is just one of many legal complaints against Lenovo filed during the 2015 year.

Plaintiff Michael Simonoff, a resident of California, filed this Lenovo Superfish spyware class action lawsuit, claiming that in November of last year he bought a Lenovo Flex2 15 laptop through the company’s online website. When Simonoff received the product in the mail, it allegedly already came  with Superfish Software pre-loaded on the Lenovo laptop, although the plaintiff states that at the time he was unware of this fact.

“The software, known as ‘Superfish Visual Discovery’ (‘Superfish Software’), was designed by Superfish to intercept secure Web connections between the user’s computer and Web sites and inject content, such as unsolicited ads, into those connections so that they would display on the user’s screen,” the Lenovo class action lawsuit alleges.

The plaintiff further alleges that the Superfish Software allows Superfish, and by extension Lenovo, to remotely monitor consumer’s internet use, and eventually slows down computer processes by increasing bandwith and memory usage in addition to the unsolicited ad pop ups.

Simonoff brings several allegations against Lenovo, including claims of violation of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, violation of the Stored Communications Act, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, Trespass to Chattels, negligence, violation of the California penal code, violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, and finally, violation of California’s Business and Professions Code.

The plaintiff seeks to represent himself in this Lenovo class action lawsuit, as well as a Class of consumers that would include all individuals and entities within the United States that, from Sept. 1, 2014 through the present, purchased one or more of the following Lenovo laptop models:

• Z series: Z40-75, Z50-75, Z40-70, Z50-70
• Y series: Y430P, Y40-70, Y50-70
• U series: U330P, U430P, U330Touch, U430Touch, U530Touch
• G series: G410, G510, G710, G40-70, G50-70, G40-30, G50-30, G40-45, G50-45
• S series: S310, S410, S40-70, S415, S415 Touch, S20-30, S20-30 Touch
• Flex series: Flex2 14D, Flex2 15D, Flex2 14, Flex2 15, Flex2 14(BTM), Flex2 15(BTM), Flex 10
• Miix series: MIIX2-8, MIIX2-10, MIIX2-11
• Yoga series: Yoga 2 Pro-13, Yoga 2-13, Yoga 2-11BTM, Yoga 2-11HSW
• E series: E10-30

Simonoff is seeking relief in the form of Class certification, injunctive relief, award of statutory, actual, and punitive damages, payment of attorneys’ fees, and other forms of compensation from Lenovo as deemed fit by the court.

At the end of February, another spyware class action lawsuit was filed against Lenovo in a federal court in Southern California by plaintiff Jessica N. Bennett, who has made similar allegations as those filed by Simonoff. These Lenovo class action lawsuits may be the first of many more Superfish allegations on the horizon for the tech company.

The Lenovo Superfish Spyware Class Action Lawsuit is Simonoff v. Lenovo (United States) Inc., et al., Case No. 5:15-cv-01125, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.

UPDATE: On Feb. 12, 2016, Superfish settled its portion of the spyware class action lawsuit by agreeing to pay $1 million and help in the continued lawsuit against Lenovo.

UPDATE 2: On July 22, 2016, plaintiffs filed a motion asking the judge to certify the Lenovo Adware class action lawsuit.

UPDATE 3: On Oct. 27, 2016, a California federal judge granted class certification for the Lenovo Adware litigation after rejecting some claims. 

UPDATE 4: On Jan. 30, 2018, claims in a class action lawsuit alleging Lenovo preinstalled secret monitoring devices on computers were further trimmed by a federal judge. Lenovo successfully argued that class action claims under New York’s consumer protection laws should be dismissed.

UPDATE 5: January 2019, the Lenovo adware class action settlement is now open.Click here to file a claim.

UPDATE 6: On Nov. 12, 2019, Top Class Actions viewers started receiving checks in the mail worth up to $244.52. Congratulations to everyone who filed a claim and got PAID!