Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Everything that is wrong with America. The class action lawsuit.

The point is that nothing is going to end up happening with this and the public's time and money gets wasted.
 
Stiss said:
I live in the UK so I know nada about how anything like this works?

The 'plaintiffs', can they come away with money after this and if so how much?
What would then happen to Apple & AT&T?

If the court decides theres nothing wrong with it could Apple turn around and sue the plaintiffs?

Please explain to a dumb Englishman.
Click to expand...

What ends up happening is they settle out of court and Apple gives everyone a bumper or some small trivial amount while the lawyers pocket lots of money.

Edit: I just finished read the article; with such a small number of people nothing is going to happen, it is most likely going to get tossed out.
 
Stiss said:
I live in the UK so I know nada about how anything like this works?

The 'plaintiffs', can they come away with money after this and if so how much?
What would then happen to Apple & AT&T?

If the court decides theres nothing wrong with it could Apple turn around and sue the plaintiffs?

Please explain to a dumb Englishman.
Click to expand...

1. Yes.
2. Unspecified until a court decides on a settlement / divided by how many plaintiffs/users in the lawsuit (could be millions of people).
3. Assuming they weren't bankrupt (highly unlikely that they would be) they'd continue as usual.
4. No.

Timeframe for such a settlement if applicable: Years and years.

I know, cause I work at Walmart and was involved in a class action and am eagerly awaiting my $1,500. :)
 
Market capitalization is not liquid cash.

They have about 10 bill in cash and cash equivalents.

Anyways, none of this matters. This class action is baloney. The best part of class action lawsuits? You walk away with nothing, while the law firm walks away with 50%. Each person in the suit eventually gets like a $1. Wow, that will rectify the situation!

If you are not happy with your phone, return the ****ing thing. Mine works great.
 
Can I apply a class action lawsuit against those that apply pointless class action lawsuits?

Reason....waisted minutes of my life that can't be brought back.
 
Not to be a naysayer, but the same was said for the Walmart class action in Massachusetts.

People said it'd never hold weight, it'd never get wings, and ultimately, the end result was EVERY employee (even salaried members of management, even store/distrct managers) getting emails and letters in the mail about the class action lawsuit filed against Walmart, and their settlement.

It was for...talking to employees while off the clock. Yup. Being on a 15 minute break and if a manager came up to you and asked you a simple question while you were in the breakroom. That's what the entire lawsuit was founded on and ultimately Walmart agreed to pay 40 million to every associate in Massachusetts. Based on how long you worked for the company it determined the estimated settlement you would receive from the suit.

I'm not making this up, we got letters in the mail with prefaces that we may be summoned to court to testify against Walmart and everything.

The point is, class actions do happen and sometimes companies do settle. If Apple fanboys are smart they would join this suit and get the first 1.7 million purchasers to join and get some quick profit from this antenna issue.

Reference:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, has agreed to pay $40 million to as many as 87,500 current and former employees in Massachusetts, the largest wage-and-hour class-action settlement in the state’s history.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2001, accused the retailer of denying workers rest and meal breaks, refusing to pay overtime, and manipulating time cards to lower employees’ pay. Under terms of the agreement, which was filed in Middlesex Superior Court yesterday by the employees’ attorneys, any person who worked for Wal-Mart between August 1995 and the settlement date will receive a payment of between $400 and $2,500, depending on the number of years worked, with the average worker receiving a check for $734.

“The magnitude is large - it’s bigger than most settlements paid in wage-and-hour cases,’’ said Justin M. Swartz of New York-based law firm Outten & Golden LLP, who has handled similar cases, including a pending case against Wal-Mart. “But you would expect it to be bigger since Wal-Mart is the biggest retailer.’’

Under the terms of the settlement, neither side is allowed to comment. But in an affidavit filed with the settlement, the lead counsel for the employees, Philip Gordon of Boston’s Gordon Law Group, said the accord “dwarfs settlements of similar class actions against Wal-Mart across the country.’’

“For many employers, this settlement will serve as a reminder to take the payment of earned wages and benefits seriously. For many other employers, it will provide comfort that all Massachusetts businesses must operate on a level playing field,’’ Gordon wrote in the affidavit. “But most importantly, for employees of Wal-Mart, it finally pays them their earned wages and it puts in place systems and processes to ensure that abuses like those alleged never happen again.’’

The Massachusetts case is similar to many others that have been brought against the retail behemoth by employees across the country, most alleging that the Bentonville, Ark.-based company violated laws by requiring employees to work through breaks, to work beyond their regular shifts, and similar practices. Wal-Mart has denied the allegations, but in December, the merchant agreed to pay up to $640 million to settle 63 federal and state class-action wage-and-hour lawsuits.

The Massachusetts case, which was not part of that settlement, was initially filed eight years ago on behalf of 67,000 people who worked for Wal-Mart in Massachusetts between 1995 and 2005. The two plaintiffs, Elaine Polion and Crystal Salvas, left Wal-Mart years ago. The case has been moving back and forth for years, first being certified as a class action, being almost thrown out as a trial date approached in 2006, and then being revived on appeal and sent back to trial as a class action by the state Supreme Judicial Court two years ago.
Click to expand...
 
pnt7 said:
While I see what you're saying, its not like any of the other class action attempts have really proven successful. I mean, Apple said the 3G got 2x the data speed, class action attempt. The 3GS 2X as fast claim, lawsuit attempt. Hell, people even tried a class action lawsuit against Apple because their unbricking hack didn't bricked the iphone after an OS update.

Apple's been weathering lawsuits for quite some time, I dont think this one is really going to keep them up at night.
Click to expand...

I'm not really familiar with those cases, and to be honest, had never heard about them. It sounds like those issues would be considered as "petty" as most people wouldn't care or probably know that the 3GS is only 1.5 times faster than the 3G or whatever the case my be, and it doesn't really affect them. Not a whole bunch of mad people. This antena issue is completely different. This issue is effecting a lot of people and has gotten considerable attention.

A company can weather lots of lawsuits, but eventually there will be one that can shatter
your brands image. Look at Toyota. How many other lawsuits and class action lawsuits have probably been brought against toyota at one time or another that we've never heard of? This one debacle has severely hurt their image and they are doing major damage control. To be honest, I don't really care that the phones have issues. **** happens and I understand that. All I want to hear from apple is "We know there is an issue and we are going to take care of you, don't worry" and make good on it. When I get angry is when they pretend like nothing is wrong.
 
Exactly, and their pretending like there is no antenna issue is going to cost them millions in this suit if enough early adopters of the iP4 join. ETFs of ATT and switching to other carriers because of reception issues could even be tacked on to their responsible liabilities.

I love this lawsuit if for nothing else rather than to see how it plays out. I must admit, I love my iP4, but if given the opportunity hell yeah I'll accept a settlement and sell this <3
 
i don't have the antenna issue, but i support this lawsuit. i'm glad something is making the public take notice that there are problems with this phone and apple doesn't seem to be addressing them..
 
This lawsuit should have been unnecessary. The response that many people (including myself at first) were given by Apple associates is that they could buy a bumper to fix the problem. That was a HUGE mistake because whether or not it's true, it looks to the customer like this was a problem that Apple anticipated and wanted to make a profit off of. ($30 for a rubber band? Really?) Toss in the fact that the bumper is the first "case" that Apple has ever produced and those suspicions are only confirmed in the eyes of many.

All Apple had to do was admit to a problem and send out the fix (the bumper) to purchasers of the iPhone, and then they could say, "Hey...we fixed the problem." Denial is only making people angry. Job's pompous remarks only add fuel to a growing fire.

Some people say, "Just return the phone, buy the bumper to fix it, or drop it." Best Buy and Radioshack both have restocking fees. Why should someone who purchased what was supposed to be a working phone have to pay to return a faulty product? Why should someone have to spend $30 to buy Apple's overpriced fix? Try to defend them all you want, but the extra expense - no matter how little it may seem - shouldn't be left to the consumer to incur.

The antenna, yellow screens, ect. are all problems, but the bigger issue is Apple's refusal to take any kind of real responsibility.
 
i think there are some potential points, a lot of them are on the edge and could go either way, but some of the things in this case are defect in design, manufacture and assembly.. may or may not be so, a defect is defined "an imperfection that impairs worth or utility, a lack of something necessary for completeness, adequacy, or perfection" which is totally true.. it still works but it does impair it's utility and def makes it imperfect... also intentional misrepresentation.. implying the glass was 30x stronger could fall under this.. and another thing in the suit is Fraud by Concealment.. if they are found that they were aware of reception issues, potential glass shatter issues, or really any of the problems with the phone, but concealed them (which they did) to keep the profits from being immediately harmed, then this is totally feasible.

No good lawyer or group is going to take on such a huge corporation unless they really think they have a case.. I think what this would result in is not necessarily so much as $ but recall and repair of the issues..

I don't think it's necessarily AT&T's problem, as they were only showing promotional materials given to them by Apple, it was Apple that was causing these issues (allegedly)

all that being said I'm still geting an iphone 4.. issues or not.. if it turns out that the problems are serious enough for this and other class action suits to take place then that means they will fix it...

and if they get thrown out then i'll know it's not that big of a deal after all..

..in the end both of those possible resolutions work for me
 
Apple was asking for it!

Next time they should try honesty and openness instead of secrecy and rude "jedi mind tricks".
 
It won't take the cases that long. The last case Apple dealt with was for the Nano, was for scratch resistance I do believe. That one took a good while, but how many people would actually complain about that?
 
Err... maybe what's wrong with america is that it lacks stringent and uniform consumer protection laws in the first place?

No doubt these are socialist, un-American ideas, though...
 
ryuuzaki said:
It'll get thrown out in court.

Defect means it doesn't work, period.

You hold the phone in infinite possible ways and it will not work, or the phone just doesn't maintain signal at all.

They need to prove this.

Technology has its inconveniences, and when you buy a product thats why you are able to return a product. If it doesn't meet your standards, you can return it.

Apple in no way misled its consumers when they bought this product.

Also, they need to prove that every phone ever produced is facing the issues they described. And from the talk on forums here, not everyone is facing an antenna issue. Thus, not everyone everywhere else isn't facing issues either.
Click to expand...


What school did you get your Juris Doctor from? :rolleyes:
 
If the choice is a lawsuit or looking to the government to handle it, I'll take a lawsuit every time. A lawsuit eventually ends. The 'Department For Coddling Consumers' lives forever, with an ever increasing budget.
 
tuatha said:
Err... maybe what's wrong with america is that it lacks stringent and uniform consumer protection laws in the first place?

No doubt these are socialist, un-American ideas, though...
Click to expand...

Err, consumers in America, well some of them, have brains and they vote with their wallet, they don't go running to some government entity to solve all their problems.
 
What a class action suit means to the typical consumer . . .

The law firm will get about 10-50MM in settlement. The consumer will get either a free bumper or a $5 Starbuck's gift card . . .
 
MikePA said:
Err, consumers in America, well some of them, have brains and they vote with their wallet, they don't go running to some government entity to solve all their problems.
Click to expand...


I don't think you understand.
 
Everyone involved in the lawsuit deserves eleventy billion dollars since they have all been mildly inconvenienced for nearly an entire week! :rolleyes:

If you don't like it or it does not perform how you would like, take it back.
 
Bawstun said:
Not to be a naysayer, but the same was said for the Walmart class action in Massachusetts.

People said it'd never hold weight, it'd never get wings, and ultimately, the end result was EVERY employee (even salaried members of management, even store/distrct managers) getting emails and letters in the mail about the class action lawsuit filed against Walmart, and their settlement.

It was for...talking to employees while off the clock. Yup. Being on a 15 minute break and if a manager came up to you and asked you a simple question while you were in the breakroom. That's what the entire lawsuit was founded on and ultimately Walmart agreed to pay 40 million to every associate in Massachusetts. Based on how long you worked for the company it determined the estimated settlement you would receive from the suit.

I'm not making this up, we got letters in the mail with prefaces that we may be summoned to court to testify against Walmart and everything.

The point is, class actions do happen and sometimes companies do settle. If Apple fanboys are smart they would join this suit and get the first 1.7 million purchasers to join and get some quick profit from this antenna issue.

Reference:
Click to expand...

EEOC Wage and Hour lawsuits are a completely different animal than consumer class action law suits.

There is an entire cottage industry for CAL's against employers based on the somewhat stiff and archaic rules of the Department of Labor. As such, many large employers are targets because hourly employees are sometimes asked to perform duties 'off the clock' or if certain salaried workers technically don't fit the definition of 'exempt' employees and should be eligible for overtime.

Consumer class action suits, especially those that don't result in physical rick of injury or illness are totally different.

The actual 'losses' in this case are minimal. The only goal is to put public pressure on AT&T to address the issue.
 
Bawstun said:
Not to be a naysayer, but the same was said for the Walmart class action in Massachusetts.

People said it'd never hold weight, it'd never get wings, and ultimately, the end result was EVERY employee (even salaried members of management, even store/distrct managers) getting emails and letters in the mail about the class action lawsuit filed against Walmart, and their settlement.

It was for...talking to employees while off the clock. Yup. Being on a 15 minute break and if a manager came up to you and asked you a simple question while you were in the breakroom. That's what the entire lawsuit was founded on and ultimately Walmart agreed to pay 40 million to every associate in Massachusetts. Based on how long you worked for the company it determined the estimated settlement you would receive from the suit.

I'm not making this up, we got letters in the mail with prefaces that we may be summoned to court to testify against Walmart and everything.

The point is, class actions do happen and sometimes companies do settle. If Apple fanboys are smart they would join this suit and get the first 1.7 million purchasers to join and get some quick profit from this antenna issue.

Reference:
Click to expand...

youre not making it up but it doesnt even come close to the cited material you provided

Walmart was busted for denying breaks and refusing to pay overtime....not "talking"


Class action lawsuits arent the devil, they serve a purpose. people are quick to blame the govt or lawyers but never seem to go after the jurors who vote on these awards.....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back