Apple denied dismissal of 'unwieldy' dust filter class action lawsuit
An attempt by Apple to dismiss a proposed class action lawsuit over a lack of air filters in the design of MacBooks and iMacs has been denied by a California District Court judge, as the motion to dismiss the "unwieldy" complaint was apparently "also unwieldy" in its own right.
An example of how dust can allegedly affect a Mac's display
In 2018, a class action lawsuit launched by law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro alleged Apple's design process for its iMacs and MacBooks made since 2013, in that they lacked dust filters and allowed dust and debris to slip in. The accumulation of dust is said to cause slowdowns and crashes when appearing on the logic board, or could cause "dark smudges or spots" on the displays.
In a filing for case number 5:18-cv-07196 to the US District Court for the Northern District of California reported by Law360, Judge Lucy Koh has issued an order denying Apple's attempt to dismiss the case without prejudice.
The plaintiffs filed an amended class action complaint against Apple in February, alleging a nationwide class and 14 state subclasses, 46 causes of action, and covering 126 pages in total. The following month, Apple filed a motion to dismiss all 46 causes.
"Not surprisingly, because the [Plaintiff's amended class action] is unwieldy, Apple's motion to dismiss is also unwieldy," write Koh in the filing. "Apple's motion is so unwieldy that Apple had to include a two-page summary chart of the causes of action and the bases of Apple's motion." It was deemed that the court "cannot analyze a motion to dismiss that addresses 46 causes of action and 14 different state laws."
Due to the "unwieldy" nature of the case, the court is also demanding parties to choose 5 causes of action each, a total of 10 collectively, to litigate through trial, effectively cutting out 36 of the 46 causes of action.
Cutting the claim count to simplify a lawsuit is not entirely uncommon, especially in cases that balloon in size. Before the high-profile Apple-Samsung lawsuit went to trial, Judge Koh attempted to streamline trial proceedings multiple times by demanding the companies pare down the number of claims to a more reasonable size.
At the time, Judge Koh commented that the pile of claims was a "cruel and unusual punishment to a jury."
The next meeting in the dust-related legal action is an initial case management conference set for June 19, where both sides are expected to have decided on their causes of action.
An example of how dust can allegedly affect a Mac's display
In 2018, a class action lawsuit launched by law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro alleged Apple's design process for its iMacs and MacBooks made since 2013, in that they lacked dust filters and allowed dust and debris to slip in. The accumulation of dust is said to cause slowdowns and crashes when appearing on the logic board, or could cause "dark smudges or spots" on the displays.
In a filing for case number 5:18-cv-07196 to the US District Court for the Northern District of California reported by Law360, Judge Lucy Koh has issued an order denying Apple's attempt to dismiss the case without prejudice.
The plaintiffs filed an amended class action complaint against Apple in February, alleging a nationwide class and 14 state subclasses, 46 causes of action, and covering 126 pages in total. The following month, Apple filed a motion to dismiss all 46 causes.
"Not surprisingly, because the [Plaintiff's amended class action] is unwieldy, Apple's motion to dismiss is also unwieldy," write Koh in the filing. "Apple's motion is so unwieldy that Apple had to include a two-page summary chart of the causes of action and the bases of Apple's motion." It was deemed that the court "cannot analyze a motion to dismiss that addresses 46 causes of action and 14 different state laws."
Due to the "unwieldy" nature of the case, the court is also demanding parties to choose 5 causes of action each, a total of 10 collectively, to litigate through trial, effectively cutting out 36 of the 46 causes of action.
Cutting the claim count to simplify a lawsuit is not entirely uncommon, especially in cases that balloon in size. Before the high-profile Apple-Samsung lawsuit went to trial, Judge Koh attempted to streamline trial proceedings multiple times by demanding the companies pare down the number of claims to a more reasonable size.
At the time, Judge Koh commented that the pile of claims was a "cruel and unusual punishment to a jury."
The next meeting in the dust-related legal action is an initial case management conference set for June 19, where both sides are expected to have decided on their causes of action.
Comments
Can’t wait for some troll to come in here and try to justify this lawsuit.
Its all you you need to know.
When end I first saw the judges comments, I couldn’t believe how childish, vindictive, and curt they are. Then I saw her name. Business as usual.
Shes got a thing for Apple. I swear Federighi stood her up or something.
Never saw this issue. Ever.
We did have an issue in due in a couple older 2010 iMacs where the stand hinge broke out of the blue. Not even touching the screen. Just a loud pop and the screen tilted down. Had to pay to get it fixed. That was a design flaw in the hinge. The iMac 5Ks have all been bulletproof since 2015.
You must wonder what environments these are subject to.
Mid it an outdoor, sandy or dusty environment? A foggy, moist environment? Just going by our usage and variety of environments, it seems like something extreme must be happening.
Not saying thats it for certain. But there’s got to be a reason for this other than the system design.
Please if this is happening to any of you, the problem is your environment and you have larger issues.