Toronto-based law firm Rochon Genova commenced a class action lawsuit against Cupertino computing giant Apple, on February 23rd, 2018.
The suit was submitted on behalf of Cherif Saleh on the grounds that Apple breached Ontario’s Consumer Protection Act and Canada’s Competition Act, as well as deceitfully withheld information, when the company failed to disclose that it actively throttled iPhone performance in order to prolong battery life.
According to the statement of claim submitted to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, Apple “breached their contracts” with Saleh and other members of the suit, “breached its duty of care,” “interfered with and trespassed upon the personal property,” “fraudulently concealed material information” and “were unjustly enriched at the expense” of Saleh and class action’s other members.
The suit is brought forward on behalf of anyone in Canada — except for Quebec — who purchases an iPhone 6/6 Plus, 6S/6S Plus, 7/7 Plus and SE.
“Due to increasingly frustratingly slow devices, many Class Members were forced to prematurely purchase new smartphones, spending this money when they would not have otherwise needed to purchase a new device,” reads an excerpt from Rochon Geneva’s statement of claim.
In all, the suit seeks $500 million in damages on behalf of the members involved in the class action, “or such other sum as this Honourable Court deems just.”
The suit also seeks that Apple pay punitive damages of $100 million, “or such other amount as this court deems just.
Apple acknowledged in December 2017 that it throttled iPhone performance in favour of prolonging battery health.
The company then apologized for its lack of transparency and offered customers a discount on battery replacements.
Apple then announced in January 2018 that it would replace batteries in iPhone 6 and later devices, regardless of whether the phone fails an in-store diagnostic test.
Rochon Genova’s suit comes almost two months after a team of two Quebec law firms filed to bring class action lawsuits against Apple for the company’s performance throttling.
MobileSyrup has reached out to Apple for comment, and this story will be updated with a response.
Source: Rochon Genova
Correction 27/02/2018 (9:54am ET): This article erroneously stated that the Consumer Protection Act is federal legislation. This is incorrect, as the Consumer Protection Act was passed in 2002 by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
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