Apple Wants FaceTime Class Action Lawsuit Dismissed

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UPDATE: November 2020, the Apple FaceTime class action settlement is now open. Click here to learn more.

Apple hopes to dismiss a FaceTime class action lawsuit alleging that it purposefully disabled the video chat feature on older iPhones.

In response to the FaceTime class action lawsuit, Apple claims that owners of iPhone 4s did not provide proper evidence in their damage claims and sued inappropriately over Apple’s designs.

The plaintiffs in the FaceTime class action lawsuit sued under a trespass to chattels tort claim, which is often used in cases when a party has allegedly interfered with someone’s property.

The Apple FaceTime class action contends that the company intentionally allowed the FaceTime certificate to expire after the iPhones were purchased.

Apple argues that the failure of FaceTime calls that were experienced by iPhone4 and 4S customers had to do with design elements inside the phone in place prior to the customer’s purchase, calling for a dismissal of the FaceTime class action lawsuit.

Since the plaintiffs are pursuing the chattels claim, Apple says that design elements in place years before the customers bought the phones doesn’t line up with the argument that Apple intentionally interfered with the phones after the fact.

Further, Apple says that this line of claim is not appropriate given the circumstances anyways since trespass to chattels claims require that case only involving monetary loss are blocked due to an economic loss rule.

Apple says that customers in the FaceTime class action lawsuit would have to show they suffered physical injury or loss to other property as well.

Customers argue that an update to their iPhones using new technology for FaceTime was too much for their older devices to handle. They believe that the company was trying to push them to buy newer versions of the iPhone to continue making FaceTime calls. This led to the filing of the lawsuit in April 2017.

Apple invested in new technology for FaceTime calls to save money on their end, according to the FaceTime class action lawsuit. The consumers say the company purposefully broke FaceTime for operating systems from iOS 6 and prior.

Apple’s technical expert says that the company was likely not even considering FaceTime in 2007 as a response to the argument about intentional failure in 2014. Apple also says that it’s not a measure of restitution that the drop in the resale value of those phones could be linked to the FaceTime certificate failure.

Class Members in the FaceTime class action lawsuit include California residents who own an Apple iPhone 4S or 4 and had iOS 6 or earlier operating systems installed on those devices in April 2014. The Class was certified in September.

The plaintiffs are represented by Allan Steyer, Jill M. Manning and D. Scott Macrae of Streyer Lowenthal Boodrookas Alzarez & Smith LLP and Bruce L. Simon, Daniel L. Warshaw and Alexander L. Simon of Pearson Simon & Warshaw LLP.

The Apple FaceTime Class Action Lawsuit is Christina Grace, et al. v Apple Inc., Case No. 5:17-cv-00551, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.