LG Reaches Settlement Over Defective Refrigerators

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LG Electronics USA Inc. has reached a class action settlement with customers who claim that the electronics company sold defective refrigerators, in a settlement could reach tens of millions of dollars.

The motion for preliminary approval of the class action settlement was filed by plaintiff Jeannette Clark on Tuesday in a California federal court.

According to the class action settlement, Clark and LG reached the settlement after extensive negotiations and “it provides substantial relief to many who would have no opportunity to obtain recourse for the damages they suffered.”

Class members in a nationwide class who purchased allegedly defective LG Signature Model refrigerators can receive up to $5,000 to cover the costs of property damage, which includes $500 for spoiled food, money to cover the repair of the refrigerator, a $1,500 credit to purchase a new refrigerator, if the refrigerator cannot be repaired, and an extended warranty.

The total settlement amount will be determined based on the number of class members who file claims.

According to Clark’s attorney’s, if $500 is given to 10 percent of the class for spoiled food and five percent received the $1,500 credit for a new refrigerator that would total $48.7 million.

In addition, Clark is asking for $367,000 in attorneys’ fees.

Clark filed the LG defective refrigerator class action lawsuit in December 2012, alleging that her LG Signature Model refrigerator that she purchased in October 2011  was defective, and that she started having problems after about one month after she purchased it.

According to Clark’s LG class action lawsuit, the ice system became easily clogged, which would sometimes burnout the motor and cause the entire refrigerator to stop working.

She claims that when she contacted LG’s customer service, the representative recommended that “she would have to empty the ice tray every day in order to prevent the ice system from clogging.”

In addition, she alleges that sometimes the refrigerator would stop working randomly and “display various error messages.”

When she contacted LG about this problem, she was told by the customer service representative that she would have “to unplug the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes and then plug it back in to reboot the refrigerator’s control board,” according to the class action lawsuit.

Clark alleges that due to all of these problems she had with her LG refrigerator that sometimes water would leak on the floor, which was both a safety hazard and caused damage. In addition, in the process of having to reboot the refrigerator, a lot of food started to spoil, which she had to throw out.

The LG refrigerator class action lawsuit was dismissed in June 2013 with the judge saying that the class had not been properly defined, but the judge gave Clark leave to amend the lawsuit. She refiled the class action lawsuit in July.

The allegations in the second class action lawsuit included a violation of the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, two violations of California’s business code, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, and a violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey T. Miller dismissed some of the claims in October 2013, including the claims brought on behalf of “the general public” and the breach of express warranty charges. However, he said that the new amended lawsuit resolved the issues in the former complaint, and that Clark had showed a clear link between LG’s technological issues to the class.

In December 2013, Miller ordered both parties to attend and Early Neutral Evaluation Conference in January, which began the settlement process.

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

LG is represented by Tai H. Park and Amy Dieterich of Park & Jensen LLP, Pamela R. Hanebutt and Susan M. Razzano or Elmer Stahl LLP and John H. L’Estrange Jr. of Andrew E. Schouten of Wright & L’Estrange.

The LG Defective Refrigerator 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.