RALEIGH, N.C. (Legal Newsline) - The North Carolina Supreme Court reversed an appellate ruling dismissing a lawsuit against LG over batteries improperly installed in vape devices, citing a U.S. Supreme Court decision that broadened the jurisdiction of state courts over out-of-state defendants.
LG has been fighting a spate of lawsuits by consumers who used its batteries to power vaping devices, despite explicit warnings they could be injured as a result. The company has been losing challenges to personal jurisdiction in state courts based on the fact it sells batteries wholesale in those markets. Last month, the Texas Supreme Court ruled LG can be sued there, joining Mississippi and other states.
The North Carolina Supreme Court stopped short of declaring jurisdiction over LG, instead reversing the dismissal of a lawsuit by plaintiff Eric Miller and sending it back to the trial court for more discovery on the question of personal jurisdiction.
The high court cited a U.S. Supreme Court decision from 2021 affirming the jurisdiction of state courts over companies where they release products into the stream of commerce, regardless of where an individual product might have been purchased.
The trial court was instructed to examine LG’s activities in North Carolina in light of the Ford decision. The plaintiff was represented by Washington attorney Deepak Gupta, who argued for the plaintiffs against Ford in the U.S. Supreme Court case.