14 DAY TRIAL // An iPhone owner from Fresno, California has decided to sue Apple after his device burst into flames and caused several injuries, according to a report.
Nwabueze Umeh filed a lawsuit in the Fresno County Superior Court, requesting damages after his iPhone 6 exploded on May 20, The Business Journal reveals today.
Oddly enough, the lawsuit documents provide only vague information about the injuries the man experienced after the device ignite, but the source claims this is the fifth lawsuit that Gustafson Nicolai, pc, a Los Angeles-based law firm, filed against Apple for iPhones that have allegedly exploded.
Most of the lawsuits also involve vendors, stores, and carriers that sold the iPhones, including AT&T and Verizon, and all plaintiffs claim they suffered injuries due to iPhones that caught fire, without providing any other specifics in this regard.
But the cited source says that three of plaintiffs are adults and one is a minor, with one man from Manhattan Beach explaining the device burst into flames in his right pocket. One lawsuit claims the device caused “multiple injuries, both internal and external,” as well as burns, pain, mental anxiety anguish, aches, and shocks to the nervous system.
Apple remains tight-lipped
Apple hasn’t issued a statement on this lawsuit, and as per the company’s typical approach in this kind of accusations, do not expect anything besides “no comment.”
Several iPhone models caught fire in the last year, though reports never seemed to point to a common issue that might affect a bigger number of devices. The Plus model part of the iPhone 6 series was hit by a manufacturing defect called by the media “bendgate” and which caused the device to bend under strong pressure.
This physical damage is believed to have caused battery issues, in turn leading to overheating and thus increasing the risk of phones bursting into flames.
Unlike Apple, Samsung has already acknowledged a widespread issue with its Galaxy Note 7 last year, and the South Korean eventually decided to recall the entire lineup after discovering a battery issue causing overheating.