Judge dismisses suit against Apple over iMac G5 display issues
As Apple released a firmware update to fix graphical glitches on its new 27-inch iMac, a federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit over display issues on 2006 hardware.
Plaintiff Aram Hovsepian filed the class-action suit demanding $5 million for himself and others similarly situated. The original complaint was issued on Dec. 31, 2008. Hovsepian attempted to include all people who purchased an iMac computer in the U.S.
Last week, Judge Jeremy Fogel of a federal court in San Jose, Calif., dismissed the complaint. He said the "class" cited by Hovsepian cannot be determined because it includes users who have not experienced any problems with their iMac, and have no right to sue.
"These type of class actions are not suitable for actions where recovery of money damages is the primary relief sought by the plaintiff," Fogel wrote. "The purpose of this lawsuit is money damages. These pleading deficiencies are present despite the fact that Hovsepian has been given two opportunities to amend his complaint. Accordingly, the class actions will be struck without prejudice."
The suit states that Hovsepian, a Florida resident, purchased his iMac G5 from Apple in October 2006. The plaintiff alleged that vertical lines began to appear on his display screen in March 2008, which eventually progressed to the point that the screen was unusable.
"He claims Apple knew of or recklessly ignored the existence of the defect that caused premature failure of the display screens, and that Apple failed to take remedial action or remove the defective computers from the marketplace," court documents state.
The decision comes as Apple has had screen flickering and distortion issues with its new, big-screen 27-inch iMac. On Monday, Apple issued a firmware update to address the issue. Some reports this week incorrectly suggested Hovsepian's lawsuit was related to the recent iMac display issues.
Weeks ago, many orders for the new iMac were delayed past Christmas. Apple acknowledged the delays, citing great demand for the new hardware, but did not comment on the reported display issues.
Plaintiff Aram Hovsepian filed the class-action suit demanding $5 million for himself and others similarly situated. The original complaint was issued on Dec. 31, 2008. Hovsepian attempted to include all people who purchased an iMac computer in the U.S.
Last week, Judge Jeremy Fogel of a federal court in San Jose, Calif., dismissed the complaint. He said the "class" cited by Hovsepian cannot be determined because it includes users who have not experienced any problems with their iMac, and have no right to sue.
"These type of class actions are not suitable for actions where recovery of money damages is the primary relief sought by the plaintiff," Fogel wrote. "The purpose of this lawsuit is money damages. These pleading deficiencies are present despite the fact that Hovsepian has been given two opportunities to amend his complaint. Accordingly, the class actions will be struck without prejudice."
The suit states that Hovsepian, a Florida resident, purchased his iMac G5 from Apple in October 2006. The plaintiff alleged that vertical lines began to appear on his display screen in March 2008, which eventually progressed to the point that the screen was unusable.
"He claims Apple knew of or recklessly ignored the existence of the defect that caused premature failure of the display screens, and that Apple failed to take remedial action or remove the defective computers from the marketplace," court documents state.
The decision comes as Apple has had screen flickering and distortion issues with its new, big-screen 27-inch iMac. On Monday, Apple issued a firmware update to address the issue. Some reports this week incorrectly suggested Hovsepian's lawsuit was related to the recent iMac display issues.
Weeks ago, many orders for the new iMac were delayed past Christmas. Apple acknowledged the delays, citing great demand for the new hardware, but did not comment on the reported display issues.
Comments
Common sense ... yeah! If only this judge would relocate to West Texas ... but then he is smart so I guess he wouldn't want to!
Let me guess, one person had a problem and all of a sudden I want $5 million dollars. GFY.
It's a shame, because without the display issues, it's still a perfectly usable computer.
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Sorry, couldn't help myself.......
My iMac G5 is just now beginning to experience these display issues. What recourse do I have? None, except fork out a ridiculous amount of money to fix it.
It's a shame, because without the display issues, it's still a perfectly usable computer.
people pay money to fix old computers? cheaper to buy a new one
4-5 years of use is normal. having electronics fail after several years of use is not out of the norm and grounds for a lawsuit. no manufacturing process is perfect and the best Apple can do is have standards for post-manufacturing testing and buy parts that meet their standards. there are monitor resellers that specify selling LCD's with dead pixels at a discount because there is a market for it and no one wants to throw them away
This is a shame. I remember reading all the reports of problems people had and Apple ignoring it.
It is interesting that Apple has not ignored the new iMac's problem and released a fix for it. Maybe they thought someone might sue them again.
http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/imacrecall
http://getsatisfaction.com/apple/top...d_crash_freeze
http://lapsusbloggus.blogspot.com/20...gic-board.html
http://applequalitycomplaints.blogsp...ailure-at.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/fiximac/petition.html
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....sageID=8862762
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....sageID=9147545
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....sageID=8861484
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....sageID=9253971
http://discussions.apple.com/thread....sageID=9189323
Yes, in this case, it's an expensive repair for the end user. Such is life. It happens with ANY piece of electronics.
I know, I know ... Plenty of ridiculous suits by American born idiots, too.
Nope.
CarolinaLiberty.com
My iMac G5 is just now beginning to experience these display issues. What recourse do I have? None, except fork out a ridiculous amount of money to fix it.
It's a shame, because without the display issues, it's still a perfectly usable computer.
Take it to the Apple Store. The display on my mother's iMac G5 started showing vertical lines a few months ago. It was 3.5 years old, and we never got AppleCare for it, but Apple repaired it for free.
Let me guess, one person had a problem and all of a sudden I want $5 million dollars. GFY.
No, they wanted $5 million to split between everyone with teh problem, not one individual. That's how class action lawsuits work.
Apple made an imac G5? Didn't know that.
Let me guess, one person had a problem and all of a sudden I want $5 million dollars. GFY.
You guess wrong; they were infamously problem-ridden. And if you didn't know Apple made an iMac G5, then why are you posting at all?
Take it to the Apple Store. The display on my mother's iMac G5 started showing vertical lines a few months ago. It was 3.5 years old, and we never got AppleCare for it, but Apple repaired it for free.
Not anymore. Apple did extend the iMac G5 warranties about a year, but are now no longer honoring them. We continue to have iMac G5 failures (bad capacitors, power supplies; the same things that caused our >50% failure rate under AppleCare) but Apple won't even talk to us about them now. Not that I'm complaining; the units are indeed old. But don't tell people they can still get them serviced for free, 'cos they can't.
Apple provides a 1 year warranty on their products with the option of a 3 year extended warranty. When things fail out of the prescribed warranty period, there are costs associated with the repair, simple as that.
Except that it's not. The world is nowhere near as black and white as you want to believe it is.
Consider the case of the bad capacitors that Apple (and Dell and IBM) bought from Korea in 2004. Those capacitors have caused nearly 50% of iMac G5's to fail. Apple reached a settlement with the maker of those capacitors. Why should owners of G5's whose capacitors fail out of warranty not be compensated with a repaired G5 given that Apple did receive settlement from the company responsible for that G5 failing?!?
See? No black & white. Stop trying to see the world that way.