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Samsung is facing a lawsuit from a Galaxy Note 7 owner who endured an exploding phone in his pants just hours before Samsung began to cooperate with the US Consumer Product Safety Commission on an official recall:
After news emerged that Samsung had received 92 reports in the US about the battery in its Galaxy Note 7 phone overheating -- including 26 cases involving burns -- it seemed only time before someone would contact a lawyer.
Now, Reuters reports, 28-year-old Jonathan Strobel of Boca Raton, Florida, has filed what may be the first lawsuit in the US involving the Note 7's combustible battery. Strobel's suit, filed Friday, says his Note 7 exploded in his front pants pocket on September 9. This allegedly happened in a Costco in Palm Beach Gardens, where Strobel works. "His right thigh has a deep second-degree burn the size of the phone," Keith Pierro, Strobel's lawyer, told me, adding that Strobel's left hand was also burnt. (He apparently reached for his overheating phone with his opposite hand.)
The Palm Beach Post reported that Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue described the phone as having melted inside Strobel's pants.
The complaint says that Strobel suffered "sustained serious and permanent bodily injuries resulting in pain and suffering, permanent impairment, disability, mental anguish, inconvenience, loss of the enjoyment of life, expense of medical care and treatment, expense of hospitalization, lost wages, and ability to earn wages in the past and to be experienced in the future."
(Score: 2) by TheGratefulNet on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:05PM
let the suings begin!
"It is now safe to switch off your computer."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by rondon on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:11PM
Are you implying that a phone-maker shouldn't be sued if the thing explodes in your pants?
Additionally, are you implying that coffee should be kept at unsafe temperatures, in defiance of local regulation and safety precautions?
Very curious about the intent of your message here.
(Score: 2) by Scruffy Beard 2 on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:42PM
Maybe they were implying the opposite: that the case has merit.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DeathMonkey on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:15PM
In the apocryphal, mostly wrong, version of the "frivolous" hot-coffee lawsuit the victim "should have known" that a fundamental attribute of coffee is that it's hot and that she should have taken appropriate measures.
Exploding in one's pants is not a fundamental property of a cellphone. In the literal sense, at least....
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:29PM
Call logs indicate his boyfriend was blowing up his phone.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:29PM
hope he loses. the recall has been well known and advertised for a long time. People should not be rewarded because they refuse to comply.
(Score: 3, Informative) by DannyB on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:47PM
Did you read?
It had been known that some people were experiencing exploding phones. But no recall yet.
The people who rely on government handouts and refuse to work should be kicked out of congress.
(Score: 2) by meustrus on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:36PM
For the last two weeks, Samsung's voluntary recall has been very poorly coordinated [npr.org]. The guy may have a case considering that Samsung knew there was a problem but failed to actually handle the issue effectively. Assuming of course that this guy is one of the many who have tried unsuccessfully to replace their phone.
If there isn't at least one reference or primary source, it's not +1 Informative. Maybe the underused +1 Interesting?
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:14PM
Good doc on the subject:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1445203/ [imdb.com]
(Score: 2) by arslan on Tuesday September 20 2016, @11:41PM
Samsung Exec: Nah.. we'll be fine, rounded corners are not patently patent-able... wait, what?! our phones exploded? The user clearly didn't hold it properly!
(Score: 2) by davester666 on Wednesday September 21 2016, @06:16AM
he put it in his pocket wrong!