LG Refrigerator Class Action Lawsuit Mostly Upheld, Partially Dismissed

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LG Refrigerator Class Action Lawsuit Mostly Upheld, Partially Dismissed

By Courtney Coren

A California federal judge has upheld parts of a class action lawsuit against LG Electronics USA Inc. alleging that refrigerators made by the company came with a programming defect that caused food to spoil.

In October 2011, Jeanette Clark bought an LG refrigerator (Model No. LFX31925ST) for around $3,000. It came with LG’s “Smart Cooling Plus” system, which was advertised as a unique system “to keep your food fresh.” It also came with the LG Slim SpacePlus Ice System, which is located in the door of the refrigerator. It is supposed to provide more space for ice than other refrigerators.

According to the class action lawsuit, Clark began having problems with her LG refrigerator after one month. She claims that the ice system was easily clogged and essentially didn’t work. Sometimes when the ice system was clogged, it would burn out the motor, and the entire refrigerator would stop working. When she contacted LG’s customer service, she was told “she would have to empty the ice tray every day in order to prevent the ice system from clogging.”

Clark also claims that the refrigerator would simply stop working at random times and “display various error messages.” LG’s customer service representative told her that she would need “to unplug the refrigerator at least 15 minutes and then plug it back in to reboot the refrigerator’s control board,” she class action lawsuit claims. She claims that this was something would sometimes have to be done multiple times, which she says was quite a hassle.

In her class action lawsuit, Clark claims that LG was aware of these problems when it marketed and sold the refrigerator, but it was never disclosed to her the great lengths she would have to go through to keep the refrigerator working. As a result of the problems she had with the LG refrigerator, water would leak on the floor, creating a safety hazard and causing damage. Further, Clark says she had to throw out a lot of food that would spoil in the process of rebooting the refrigerator.

Clark’s class action lawsuit charged LG with six claims — violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies act, violation of two California Business & Professions Codes, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty and violating the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller dismissed the entire class action lawsuit in June saying that Clark had not defined the class properly. Clark followed up with an amended complaint in July.

On Oct. 30, Judge Miller issued a partial dismissal of the class action lawsuit. He got rid of the claims that were brought on behalf of “the general public.” He also dismissed the breach of express warranty charges. He upheld most of the fraud and breach of warranty allegations. He said that the class issue was now resolved in the new complaint, showing a clear link between LG’s technological issues to the class.

The plaintiff is represented by Robert W. Thompson, Kathleen M. Hartman and Jessica Lulli of Callahan Thompson Sherman & Caudill LLP.

The LG Refrigerator Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Clark v. LG Electronics USA Inc., et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-00485, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

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