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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.
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112 thoughts onFire Hazard Affects More Samsung Smartphones, Class Action Claims
My Galaxy S6 melted while it was charging on my bedside table last year. I called Samsung and they wouldn’t do anything. was forced to buy a new one but went with apple instead. I still have the scorched thing because I have about a years worth of pictures on it I am unable to recover.
My s7 got so hot it wouldn’t charge unless I put it in the refrigerator! T-moble replaced it, but it cost me $5 for the privilege! So far the new one is OK, but I’m watching it carefully!
I bought a Samsung S7 recently and it gets really hot when I use the Oculus App. The battery doesn’t hold the charge very well with all apps turned off. I have to re-charge it almost daily.
My Samsung Note 5 got so hot and started making noises. It wouldn’t respond to any touch or power button. I was live chatting with T-Mobile and they no explanation or help. No offer of replacement without paying full price to replace.
My Samsung Galaxy 7edge aways stay hot
I have a Galaxy S6 that got so hot it fried the battery. Then after purchasing a new battery, it got so hot it fried the phone.
I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and the battery over heats. .. company wants me to go through to much to receive a replacement battery. …
Some “protective cases” cause overheating problems as well as charging them in warmer areas like on the kitchen counter by the stove, by radiators and heat ducts/ vents etc. I’d rather have a phone tell me that it cannot charge due to the temperature than let it overheat and burst into flames. Strange that one person managed to keep buying a phone 4 times though to have the same problem. You’d think after the second time she would realize something is wrong and to try another model or brand because it just doesn’t work for her or her case or where she charges or how extreme her normal use is relative to the rest of the world. And in case anyone didn’t know, the number of problems with that last Samsung phone was actually more in line with what problems were with other phones by them, and other brands, it was just the media world did what they like to do and made a big story out of it because it was their flavor of the month. The media in the US needs to have rules like Europe does and if they lie, report false news etc. they get fined or put out of business.
This is true, but I had to have my note 5 replaced with the s7 active. It was already so large it took a while for me to get a case for it. It gets verrrrry hot with no case at all.
My son has the regular s7 and his also gets very hot without the case, but he also has a lot going on at time his one at a time.
I had a Galaxy S6 that overheated and had to be replaced less than a year after purchasing the phone. I tried to get a different phone, but they wouldn’t allow me to swap. They only replaced it with another Galaxy S6 phone.
We have had Samsung phones for many years. Ours isn’t the Galaxy S6 or S7, but it does “get hot” when used for streaming television shows. We find we have to keep it plugged in. We have a Galaxy S III. Purchased new in the summer of 2015.