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Apple Sued By State Farm Over Alleged iPhone Fire (cnet.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the unlike-a-good-neighbor dept.

An anonymous reader quotes CNET: Insurer State Farm and one of its customers, Wisconsin resident Xai Thao, allege that one of Apple's older iPhones had a defective battery that led to a fire last year. A lawsuit filed on Thursday by both State Farm and Thao claims that her iPhone 4S "failed" and "started a fire at Thao's home." The lawsuit further claims that "preliminary investigations show evidence of a significant and localized heating event in the battery area of the iPhone." It also declares that there were "remnants of internal shorting, indicating that an internal failure of the iPhone's battery caused the fire"... The State Farm lawsuit says that Thao's iPhone was "in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition" when she bought it in 2014. The suit is claiming in excess of $75,000 in damages.

19 of 166 comments (clear)

  1. Discontinued in Sep 2013. by HornWumpus · · Score: 4, Informative

    She bought the phone at least 4 months after it was discontinued (Sept 2013 per Wiki).

    Who did she buy the phone from?

    Who made the battery in it when it burned?

    WTF happened to /.? We all hate Apple and all, but this? Really? Kick the lawyer in the balls until he pukes.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    1. Re:Discontinued in Sep 2013. by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

      Be fair - we were all over Samsung long before it was clear what the problem was.

      That's not to argue most of your points, though. We're talking about a model which was in millions of people's pockets for several years - whatever happened, it's obvious this is a rare occurrence and not something endemic.

      I also tend to be biased against anything State Farm is involved with, based on personal experience with the company. But let's see how the story develops, then decide.

      --
      #DeleteChrome
    2. Re:Discontinued in Sep 2013. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      would not be surprised if it ends up being discovered that...

      the phone had a cheap knockoff battery installed a previous owner of the phone. an iphone that old, used regularly, would have needed a new battery long before the 'incident'; and/or the current owner and co-plaintiff was using a cheap knockoff charger.

    3. Re:Discontinued in Sep 2013. by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Interesting

      She bought the phone at least 4 months after it was discontinued (Sept 2013 per Wiki).

      No, the iPhone 4s was discontinued in September of 2014 in the United States, and was still sold in some countries as late as 2016.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    4. Re: Discontinued in Sep 2013. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, it's nothing, except a legal precedent that has an insurance company yet again trying to pass the buck instead of actually paying out against the billions in premiums they collect to never actually pay against a policy.

      Fuck that. State Farm can pay, and Apple should fight it even if it was for $20.

    5. Re:Discontinued in Sep 2013. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Sorry, but no.

      When I design electronics I have to take fire hazard into consideration.
      I know that despite how many signs I put up some nitwit will connect 230VAC to a device made for 24VDC.
      It doesn't have to work then, it is OK if the smoke is let out, but under no circumstance is is acceptable that it causes a fire.

      Yes, it is harder to solve the mechanical part and it will cut into profit margins, but the phone should have a PTC-resistor to detect if the battery is overheating and stop charging and shut down the phone. (You shouldn't even use the battery if it overheats.)
      No, it isn't user friendly to display a black screen instead of a faulty battery symbol, but people lives are more important than their convenience.

      Apple consistently makes design choices where appearance takes precedence over other things.
      Same problem with their official charger. To get down the size they reduced the distance between the top of the mains capacitor to the USB shield to something like 2 mm where it should have been at least 6 mm.
      Sure, the charger is smaller, but whoever made the decision should end up in jail.

      But hey, they are winning, companies that follows the rules can't compete.

    6. Re:Discontinued in Sep 2013. by tsa · · Score: 2

      That thing is at most five years old. A Li-ion battery can easily hold out that long if treated right. All your other poitns are still valid however. But it can also just be dumb bad luck.

      --

      -- Cheers!

  2. Not a surprise by Mr+D+from+63 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Any manufacturer of devices with Lithium Ion batteries runs a risk of an occasional failure sparking a fire. Its not negligence, they implement all kinds of quality controls and features to prevent fires, but they are going to happen. Might be best for Apple to just pay up and not make much noise about it, as it is a rare event overall.

    1. Re: Not a surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      "There's no reason for a lithium cell to ever fail if it's sized properly for it's chemistry."

      Wrong, there is a reason. Time.

  3. Obviously, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    She was holding it wrong.

    1. Re:Obviously, by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

      She should have stored it in a fireproof and explosion proof bag.

    2. Re: Obviously, by Brockmire · · Score: 2

      No. The joke has lasting power by how ludicrous it was. People still reference the Dallas dream season from the 80's. This shit will die out when we don't hold cell phones in our hands anymore and they're grafted to our ears. (Apple circa 2030. You heard it here first, folks!) No one needs to defend Steve Jobs. He was a first rate asshole.

  4. iPhone 4S? by intellitech · · Score: 2

    Seriously? Why would anyone still own that piece of garbage?

    Says she bought it in 2014? They were on the iPhone 6 as of Sept 2014.

    Article doesn't say where she bought it. Not saying it couldn't happen, but hmmm..

    --
    vos nescitis quicquam, nec cogitatis quia expedit nobis ut unus moriatur homo pro populo et non tota gens pereat.
    1. Re:iPhone 4S? by murdocj · · Score: 2

      So what? If she really bought it in 2014, who cares what other phones were available? Are you really saying that it's ok for devices to self destruct in 3 years? If, somehow, the device was damaged / altered / etc, then fine, it's not Apple's fault, but if it's just 3 years old, no reason it should be catching fire.

  5. Eh. by Cyberglich · · Score: 2

    If you make enough of anything with a Li-oin cell from phones to smartwatches to what ever a certain percent will go nova thats just a fact of technology . If you make them baldly (IE Note 7 ) the number that go nova will be considerable. . If state farm can prove apple did something stupid in the design/ manufacture they have case. If they don't then its a SHIT HAPPENS type event and that would insurance is for.. its like suing the architect because your house got hit by lighting unless you can prove a fault in design that makes it a lighting magnet more then any other similar size house you have no case..

  6. Re:good luck by 93+Escort+Wagon · · Score: 2

    We don't currently know where this woman got the phone. If it was a refurbished phone off Apple's own store, for instance, that would not be a valid argument.

    There's really too much unknown here, at this point in time, for any of us to form intelligent opinions on; but that doesn't seem to be stopping most posters.

    --
    #DeleteChrome
  7. Subrogation by FlyHelicopters · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A lot of people posting here need to look up Subrogation and learn something about what State Farm is doing.

    They paid out and are now looking to recover their payment, this is something they are allowed to do and is normal under the law.

    http://www.dmv.org/insurance/s...

    The policy holder is part of the suit because your insurance company requires it. If you have insurance and it pays you on a claim, you are agreeing to help sue anyone they want to go after to recover the money.

  8. Re:I happened to me as well. by windwalkr · · Score: 2

    I had the battery swell on my 5. It was just on two years old. Screen partially detached from the case, camera signal went funny if you applied pressure to the screen. I was travelling at the time. It lasted the week or so of my trip, and I took it straight in to an Apple store on my return home. It was close to closing time. They messed around with trying to repair it for an hour, by which point the store was supposed to have been closed for half an hour. Then they gave me a new 5, no cost.

    Pity the phone died, but no serious harm done and the service was great.

  9. Re:I happened to me as well. by thegarbz · · Score: 2

    Oh my god, these things won't explode and take your head off. Just hit it with a hammer which will make it catch fire and when it's done throw it away.

    There's thousands of Youtube videos of people doing just that. In the grand scheme of activities it's relatively safe.

    Don't inhale the smoke.
    Wear safety glasses.