SEATTLE (Legal Newsline) – Nintendo has successfully steered a potential class action over allegedly defective Switch controllers to arbitration.
On March 2, Judge Thomas Zilly, of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, granted the company’s request in the lawsuit brought by Ryan Diaz and his lawyers at Tousley Brain Stephens of Seattle.
It is alleged that Joy-Con controllers introduced by Nintendo in March 2017 contained a defect that caused the joystick to drift on its own.
Nintendo is accused of knowing about the problem during its own testing but not repairing it or disclosing it to consumers. But the company said the plaintiffs agreed to user agreements that stipulated any disputes would be handled in arbitration.
There are 18 named plaintiffs – two from California and 16 from other states. Plaintiffs lawyers pointed at precedent from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that voided arbitration clauses but Judge Zilly was not swayed by it.
Plaintiffs lawyers also said a California Supreme Court case – McGill v. CitiBank – that voided an arbitration agreement because it kept plaintiffs from seeking injunctive relief – as was sought in the Nintendo case – applied.
And if the agreement was voided for the two California plaintiffs, then it should be for the other 16 plaintiffs, they argued.
Citing a February Ninth Circuit decision – Roberts v. AT&T Mobility – Zilly said that would not have been the case, had he voided the California agreements.
Nintendo had also asked Zilly to throw the case out, but he denied that request.
From Legal Newsline: Reach editor John O’Brien at john.obrien@therecordinc.com.