TRENTON, N.J. (Legal Newsline) - Class action lawyers claiming Samsung stoves have knobs that turn burners on when lightly bumped failed to show their clients have suffered an injury, the company says.
Samsung filed a motion to dismiss Oct. 9 in New Jersey federal court as it fights the litigation claiming the plaintiffs lack standing to sue.
"Their ranges served and continue to serve their intended purpose: to cook Plaintiffs' food," the motion says.
"Nor can Plaintiffs plausibly argue there is a meaningful risk for future harm given they willingly choose to continue using their ranges."
The lawsuits claim consumers wouldn't have bought the ranges or would have paid less for them had they known of the alleged defect. Samsung says they failed to show a single marketing material they relied upon when making their purchases that contained a false statement by the company.
"While they allege that Samsung's (unspecified) marketing materials were 'fraudulent,' such vague allegations fail to satisfy the pleading requirements for fraud..." the motion adds.
"Nor can Plaintiffs establish Samsung had any duty to disclose or knowledge of the alleged defect."
The ranges are in compliance with the relevant regulations, Samsung says, arguing the plaintiffs "load" the complaint with incident reports with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and online customer reviews.
"(E)ven if they could show Samsung was aware of certain complaints, they fail to make a plausible allegation that Samsung was aware of a defect," Samsung says. "This is fatal to Plaintiffs' common law and statutory consumer fraud, deceptive practice and false advertising claims."
Attorneys at Morgan & Morgan, Feldman Shepherd and Milberg Coleman have been selected as interim co-lead counsel. The alleged defect causes knobs to rotate when they are slightly touched, turning the burners on and creating a risk of fire and personal injury.
The firms are jointly pursuing similar class actions against Whirlpool and LG.
“The defective condition of the Ranges is the result of the low detent (catch that prevents motion until released) force and tiny distance the burner control knobs need to travel to be turned to the ‘on’ position, which is inadequate to prevent unintentional activation,” the suit against Samsung says.
“In other words, the ease with which the knobs can be pushed in and rotated without resistance fails to prevent the cooktop from being turned on inadvertently.
“Further, the control knobs are placed on the Ranges without the necessary guards to prevent such unintentional activation.”