Apartment & insurance firm sue Apple over lethal iPad fire
A New Jersey apartment complex and its insurance company are together suing Apple to recover payouts for a Feb. 22, 2017 iPad fire, which killed a tenant of the building, Bradley Ireland.
"The subject tablet was unreasonably dangerous and unsafe for its intended purpose by reasons of defects in its design and/or its manufacture and/or a lack of adequate warnings," part of the court complaint reads. Apple is allegedly responsible for damages because it knew -- or should have known -- that the iPad's lithium battery was an "ultrahazardous mechanism capable of causing damage, even when reasonably used."
The plaintiffs, Union Management and its subrogating insurance company, Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company, filed the case June 20 through the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
The pair are pursuing a jury trial, and compensation in the form of "damages for all monies paid by Greater New York Mutual Insurance to Union Management," including the insurance deductible, legal fees, and related interest.
In February this year Ireland's son and daughter launched their own civil suit against Apple, likewise blaming the iPad's battery. A difference in that case is that in addition to charging liability, Ireland's family also claimed that he "experienced significant pain and suffering" before his burns killed him.
Fires in lithium-powered mobile devices are not a new phenomena, but at the same time it's relatively rare for an Apple device to ship with a faulty battery. Lawsuits blaming Apple for fires do occasionally surface, but this may be inevitable given the vast number of products Apple ships.
"The subject tablet was unreasonably dangerous and unsafe for its intended purpose by reasons of defects in its design and/or its manufacture and/or a lack of adequate warnings," part of the court complaint reads. Apple is allegedly responsible for damages because it knew -- or should have known -- that the iPad's lithium battery was an "ultrahazardous mechanism capable of causing damage, even when reasonably used."
The plaintiffs, Union Management and its subrogating insurance company, Greater New York Mutual Insurance Company, filed the case June 20 through the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
The pair are pursuing a jury trial, and compensation in the form of "damages for all monies paid by Greater New York Mutual Insurance to Union Management," including the insurance deductible, legal fees, and related interest.
In February this year Ireland's son and daughter launched their own civil suit against Apple, likewise blaming the iPad's battery. A difference in that case is that in addition to charging liability, Ireland's family also claimed that he "experienced significant pain and suffering" before his burns killed him.
Fires in lithium-powered mobile devices are not a new phenomena, but at the same time it's relatively rare for an Apple device to ship with a faulty battery. Lawsuits blaming Apple for fires do occasionally surface, but this may be inevitable given the vast number of products Apple ships.
New York Mutual versus Apple by Mike Wuerthele on Scribd
Comments
2) While it's certainly possible that a battery could catch fire because it's faulty I do agree that it's statically more likely that there was a 3rd-party PSU in the mix.
So many questions.
Did the owner of the iPad leave it charging on an insulating surface, such as a blanket?
Where they using a non-certified charger?
Was the wiring in the building old?
Was the charger fully plugged into the outlet? Sparks can be caused by a partial insertion.
The wording of the claim is really unfortunate. I don't believe Apple is at fault in any way. Their designs and warnings are very thorough.
I realize there are a lot of bad examples but there are also legitimate claims. In this case I can’t imagine Apple winning. They would have to show third party damage to the battery.
I take it that Apple, and all other device manufacturers, should not use lithium batteries. Well that's going to be a tad inconvenient for the entire industry and consumers. Fact is the company does know a lithium battery is hazardous and have factored that into the design to ensure it can be used safely when used properly.
In the vast majority of cases that have been reported on, including the ones that resulted in deaths, the record shows a strong correlation between using non-Apple chargers or engaging in other clear warranty-voiding behaviour — biting the battery, attempting to change it for a non-Apple version yourself, puncturing the battery in other ways, using it in the bathtub, and many many more such head-slappingly foolish user actions — that were the actual culprit that resulted in the damage. Moral of the story (which applies to any brand of tech stuff): don’t use cheap chargers and don’t engaging in warranty-voiding behaviour if you value your life and property.
The lawyers and insurance companies are not motivated to investigate the actual cause thoroughly, because it is sometimes better/faster/cheaper or in their interests to hope to settle the claim. Apple tends to, when sued, do a thorough investigation — which is why you will almost never hear of a settlement or guilty verdict that isn’t appealed: Apple’s investigations tend to turn up user fault (largely by way of using unsafe chargers) most of the time.
https://parsippanyfocus.com/2017/02/22/breaking-news-apartment-fire-colonial-heights-apartments/
So how much more investigation was done and who made the determination that the fire was due to an iPad?
The report by the investigator who works for the fire department should have more detail in what caused the fire.
If the fire was caused by the charger and it can be determined forensically that it was an Apple charger and cable, then Apple could be liable.
If not, good luck because now not only is the insurance company in the hole paying the claim, but now they will have to pay for Apple’s legal costs.
Neither the complex, nor the insurance company has mentioned they have a full fire investigator’s report and have determined the cause.