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."
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Samsung's Galaxy Note 7 troubles may not be over, following another incendiary incident aboard an aircraft:
Samsung Electronics Co. could face an unusual second recall of its Note 7 smartphones if one that caught fire aboard an airliner this week is a replacement device as its owner says, two former U.S. safety officials said.
The Federal Aviation Administration and the Consumer Product Safety Commission are investigating Wednesday's incident, when a passenger's phone emitted smoke on a Southwest Airlines Co. plane readying for departure from Louisville, Kentucky. A flight attendant doused it with a fire extinguisher, and the plane was evacuated without injury. "If it's the fixed phone and it started to smoke in his pocket, I'm going to guess there'll be another recall," said Pamela Gilbert, a former executive director of the consumer agency. "That just doesn't sound right."
Samsung has been engulfed in crisis since the Note 7 smartphones began to burst into flames just days after hitting the market in August. The Suwon, South Korea-based company announced last month that it would replace all 2.5 million phones sold globally at that point. Samsung said it had uncovered the cause of the battery fires and that it was certain new phones wouldn't have the same flaws. [...] Samsung and U.S. officials announced the [first] recall after 92 reports of batteries overheating in the U.S., with 26 cases involving burns.
Previously:
Samsung Recalls Galaxy Note 7 due to 'Exploding' Batteries
Florida Man Sues Samsung Over Galaxy Note 7 that Exploded in His Pants
"We are temporarily adjusting the Galaxy Note7 production schedule in order to take further steps to ensure quality and safety matters," a company spokesperson said. Production of the phone has been temporarily suspended, a person familiar with the matter told CNN on Monday.
The development is the latest in a string of embarrassing setbacks for Samsung over the Note 7, one of its flagship smartphones. It comes aftercell phone carriers in the United States and Australia said they would stop offering replacement Note 7s following concerns that the new versions are no safer from fire risk than the originals.
Soon after the Galaxy Note 7 hit stores in August, some users reported that their phones were catching fire. Samsung (SSNLF) recalled about 2.5 million of the devices worldwide last month, blaming faulty batteries for overheating the phones and causing them to ignite.
Replacement phones were supposed to solve the issue, and users started trading in their old devices. But some customers have been reporting the same dangerous problems with their new phones.
In the past week, an American user reported his replacement phone caught fire, even though it wasn't plugged in. And on Wednesday, smoke started billowing from a replacement Galaxy Note 7 aboard a Southwest Airline plane before it departed, prompting the flight's cancellation.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has said it is investigating the incident on the plane.
TuanAnh Nguyen, a research analyst at Canalys, said the production halt would cost Samsung billions of dollars in lost sales over the next six to nine months. It should now abandon the product entirely, he said. "Samsung needs to quickly put an end to the Note 7 line so as not to get deeper into trouble with recalls and faulty devices which will tarnish its brand," Nguyen said.
UPDATE:
Official: Samsung Halts All Sales of Galaxy Note 7, Recommends Powering Down and Getting a Refund |
Submitted via IRC for exec
Moments ago, Samsung confirmed that they are halting all sales and exchanges of the Galaxy Note 7 across the globe. Not only that, but they are recommending that owners of the phone turn them off and “take advantage of the remedies available.” Those remedies are returning the phone at the place of purchase for a refund …
All sales and production of the Galaxy Note 7 have now been halted.
Previously:
Samsung Recalls Galaxy Note 7 due to 'Exploding' Batteries
Florida Man Sues Samsung Over Galaxy Note 7 that Exploded in His Pants
Samsung Faces the Prospect of a Second Galaxy Note 7 Recall
BGR reports that Samsung is to offer the Galaxy Note 7 FE, a mobile phone built with components from the company's recalled Galaxy Note 7. The device is set to go on sale in South Korea on 7 July for "below 700,000 South Korean won ($616)".
Previously:
Source of Samsung Note 7 Fires Announced
"Galaxy Note 7" Wi-Fi SSID Delays U.S. Flight
Samsung Software Update Will Brick Few Note 7s Left in the Wild
Samsung Takes Out Full-Page Ads to Apologise for the Note 7
Samsung Posts 30 Percent Profit Plunge on Note 7 Crisis
Samsung 'Blocks' Exploding Note 7 Parody Videos
UPDATE: Samsung Halts Galaxy Note 7 Production
Samsung Faces the Prospect of a Second Galaxy Note 7 Recall
Florida Man Sues Samsung Over Galaxy Note 7 that Exploded in His Pants
Samsung Recalls Galaxy Note 7 due to 'Exploding' Batteries
(Score: -1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @07:41PM
How else will the other dudes know he's cruising for ass?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:51PM
Dudes who may happen to be interested in other dudes cruising don't seem to have much difficulty identifying each other -- regardless of the type of phone that either party uses. In fact, a bag phone is too primitive to support modern apps which may be used to facilitate such cruising.
People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:16PM
Dude! Do you need to have it spelled out for you? Carry your iPhone 7 in a Whole Foods tote bag strapped to your shoulder like a purse.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @11:39PM
All we have here is an Earth Fare [earthfare.com], you insensitive clod!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:18PM
and if Samsung made the bag phone, it will take out a hell of a lot more than your pants!
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Wednesday September 21 2016, @12:13AM
Dudes who may happen to be interested in other dudes cruising don't seem to have much difficulty identifying each other
Informative documentary on the subject [youtube.com]
(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.
People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
(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!
(Score: 3, Funny) by Uncle_Al on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:08PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_Man [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by mhajicek on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:58PM
http://www.theonion.com/search?q=area+man [theonion.com]
The spacelike surfaces of time foliations can have a cusp at the surface of discontinuity. - P. Hajicek
(Score: 3, Funny) by rts008 on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:17PM
You are doing it wrong, Jonathan.
I don't think you can get the Fallout 'Exploding Pants' achievement by exploding YOUR OWN pants.
When there's an explosion in MY pants, bad burritos and beer are usually to blame. There has never been any actual flames, just skid marks in my shorts. ;-)
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:27PM
The plaintiff is 28-year-old man who still works at Costco. Members of the jury, please recognize that this man is a loser in life, and it is your duty to make him the loser in this case. Vote to convict the plaintiff. The defense rests.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:06PM
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:22PM
Just call that kid who can tell you how to avoid paying your cell phone bill.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:19PM
Welcome to Costco, I love you.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:22PM
Actually Costco pays pretty damn well for a retail job.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @12:51AM
a Trump-U lawyer in action
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @08:51PM
I was in one of their stores recently and watched a lady fall (in very slow motion) to the ground near but not on a wet spot and start yelling for a manager. I'm sure they'll settle out of court, but I hope they had it on CCTV to tell her to shove it. No frigging way I was going to get in the middle of it by saying something, as those type of bottom feeders will sue anyone for anything.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:31PM
I have seen the opposite. A old lady in the middle of her shopping trip sat down in the cafe to rest for a minute, and the loss prevention thug threatened to have her arrested for shoplifting and banned from the store, because she sat down before paying for her purchases. She screamed for the store manager who told the loss prevention thug to leave the old lady alone. See what happens when you hire veterans of recent wars as store security.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @11:04PM
I can see how an LP guy would be concerned, given that most Costco cafes are on the *OUTSIDE* of the cash register row, and moving your shopping cart past the registers to sit down at the cafe could be construed as an attempt to sneak it outside of the store.
That said, Costco also requires your receipt and checking your cart before you can exit, beyond the registers, so the LP guy should've known better. On the other hand the issue was with training and discipline on the managerial side, not necessarily on the vets. If you're going to hire vets for such a job you need someone who knows how to manage them well. Costco in general has had a declining quality of employees across all positions, and is perhaps an example of failure of the upper echelons to ensure their middle to lower management ranks can actually do their jobs (or perhaps those who have been promoted to upper management did not actually have the competence to rise where they did and are as a result dragging the whole company down. A similiar problem affects AAA, Golden One and a number of other 'subscriber oriented' companies.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @06:07PM
This has nothing to do with the LP person being a gaping asshole.
This has to do with Costco and every other money grubbing mega chain paying shit slave wages, juggling schedules to avoid paying employees full time and benefits, and managers who are pressured to squeeze the most work they can out of an untrained, underpaid, and therefor, disgruntled staff. Might as well just call the employees niggers and chain them to their registers, sections, and posts. Working for one of these fuck holes is as close to dehumanizing as you can get.
That LP guy probably makes 8 bucks an hour to deal with asshole customers who are bitching because one person has to check carts with a hundred items to make sure no one is getting away with free stuff because an underpaid cashier accidentally missed something. Meanwhile, it's been shown that the biggest loss in these stores is employee theft. It's insulting. But hey, some rich cunt CEO gets to fly in a private jet to their favorite exotic golf course to brag about how much money he fucked out of his slaves with his other slave drivers. I will never set foot in one of those shit holes.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:18PM
"Are you really glad to see me, or do you just have a Galaxy 7 in your pocket?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @03:52PM
Maybe the Note could no longer contain all the porn downloaded to it. That and the constant rubbing in a pants pocket, the Note could no longer keep it contained.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 20 2016, @09:42PM
Plaintiff will go one-on-one with Lebron James, *and* Lebron will make at least two disrespectful remarks about plaintiff's injury while the two are on the court.
(Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Tuesday September 20 2016, @11:25PM
I'm unable to set my own phone to vibrate.
Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @12:14AM
???
Running CyanogenMod here, Android version 4.3.1, so it's a bit old. Unless it's changed, press and release the power button to bring it out of sleep then hold the power button for about 1-2 seconds until the menu comes up. I have 3 icons at the bottom: disable ring (no vibrate, no tone), vibrate (no tone), and tone (see below).
The 3rd option for tone can also vibrate, but that needs to be enabled in Settings. It's under Sound, of all things, then look down around ringtone and check Vibrate when ringing.
Android 4.3.1 didn't have the explode in pants option yet. :)
(Score: 1) by boxfetish on Wednesday September 21 2016, @12:22AM
♫ Florida Maaan! ♫
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 21 2016, @07:23PM
♫ Florida Maaan! ♫
Florida man, florida man
Doing the things that Florida can
What's he like? It's not important
Florida man
Do his pants sing, or flame so bright?
Is his suit against Samsung right?
Or does Samsung say he needs light?
Nobody knows, Florida man
Samsung man, samsung man
Samsung man hates Florida man
They have a flight, Florida wins
Samsung man
Costco man, costco man
Size of the entire costco man
Usually cheaper to buying man
Costco man
He's got a watch with a millions hand,
Billions hand and a Google hand
When they meet it's a depressing land
Powerful man, Costco man
Florida man, florida man
Cell phone explodes - flash in the pan!
Goes back to sad job stocking cans
Florida man
Has his thighs reached enormous size?
Or are they burnt like big pot pies?
Who came up with Florida man
Degraded man, florida man
Costco man, costco man
Costco man hates Florida man
They have a fight, Costco wins
Costco man
Apologies to TMBG.