Samsung Defective Washing Machine Lawsuit Continues

Samsung Electronics America is currently facing allegations that its washing machines are defective and can leave clothes smelling of mold. Earlier this month, however, a New Jersey federal judge dissected several allegations made by consumers and dismissed them from a proposed class action against the company.

There are claims that Samsung knew about product defects as early as 2004.

U.S. District Judge Dennis M. Cavanaugh addressed a number of plaintiffs’ allegations in last week’s ruling, and while the case will now continue, it has been significantly trimmed down. Judge Cavanaugh’s decision includes:

Rulings in Favor of Samsung:

Plaintiffs cannot bring claims under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act as they’ve been unable to prove ‘ascertainable loss’ by showing the difference between the value of their purchases and the value of the items received.

Judge Cavanaugh ruled that Texas-based plaintiff Cathie Cole’s claim that the product is now worth less than she paid for it is too unspecific to qualify under Texas’ Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

There are claims that Samsung knew about product defects as early as 2004 but they lacked support and could not be used to bring state-law consumer claims.

Plaintiffs’ breach of implied warranty claims were dismissed after it was shown that Samsung user manuals have a clear disclaimer, while plaintiffs were unable to show that any repair claims had been made within the one-year express warranty period.

Rulings in Favor of Plaintiffs:

Judge Cavanaugh agreed that New Jersey plaintiffs demonstrated they would not have purchased their Samsung washing machines if they had known about the alleged defects.

Plaintiff Cathie Cole demonstrated that she would not have bought her Samsung washing machine had she known that the more expensive heavy duty cycle was allegedly the only one that would clean clothes properly.

The claims were dismissed without prejudice, meaning that they may be brought back in the future if adequate evidence can be provided. Negligent misrepresentation claims were also preserved – Judge Cavanaugh ruled that the plaintiffs had shown that they were affected by allegedly misleading advertisements before they purchased their Samsung washing machines.

Plaintiffs’ allegations regarding four machines and three different defects were upheld despite Samsung’s arguments that they should be dismissed since plaintiffs’ did not experience problems with the specific models and so lacked standing

Importantly, Samsung’s request to strike class claims was also denied, with the judge noting that it was too early and discovery had not yet taken place.

The case is Durso et al. v. Samsung Electronics America Inc., case number 2:12-cv-05352, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.