The lawsuit was filed in court against Apple seeking damages after a major fire caused the explosion on two of its devices – one, an iPhone exploding inside a Melbourne men’s bag and another, a smart watch that left a man burnt.
Injury law firm Carbone Lawyers filed a lawsuit this month in the Victorian County Court with Apple confirming that they are investigating the allegations.
The Lawsuit
According to the lawsuit the Apple iPhone X 64GB purchased in March 2018 exploded inside the pocket of Robert De Rose’s trousers while sitting inside his office in April 2019.
The 58-year-old also suffered a “psychiatric injury” and will be seeking medical attention from the technology company, the statement said.
Carbone Lawyers director Tony Carbone said the Endeavor Hills man was left with a 25cm scar after a severe burn and it took more than six weeks for the wound to heal.
“The client heard a pop sound and then a fizz, then a burning sensation on his leg and when he immediately took the phone out of his pocket he saw black smoke coming out of the corners,” he said.
“You do hear stories about devices overheating when they’re overcharged or when they’re being overused, but the scary thing about this case is the client’s phone wasn’t even being used when it exploded.
“He wants to ensure this sort of incident doesn’t occur again – what happened to him wasn’t nice, it was very nasty but the reality is as bad as it was it could’ve been a lot worse.
“He gave the example of driving a car and in all probability an incident like this in a vehicle could have resulted in a nasty car accident and then you’re talking about loss of life.”
The Other Incident
In the second incident, Airport West man David Borg said in court documents that he had filled out that his Apple WatchN+ S3 “burned his skin on his left wrist” after it overheated.
The 31-year-old man was burned and mentally injured as a result, the documents said.
Mr Borg bought the device at Apple’s Highpoint store in Maribyrnong in August 2018, ahead of an incident in September last year.
Both claims state that both devices have “security defects” in accordance with Australian Consumer Law.
Mr Carbone said both clients sought compensation for medical treatment and the loss of income associated with their injuries.
“In the case of Robert he will also be seeking compensation for revisionary surgery to try and improve the scar – providing he’s given reasonable guarantee the wound can be improved,” he said.
“These are significant cases because safety is paramount and considering the number of people that have mobile phones and smart watches something like this should never happen in any circumstances.
“We’re talking about companies worth billions and billions of dollars – these devices are tested – anyone who owns any mobile phone or smart watches would never expect for this to occur.”
Apple confirmed to NCA NewsWire that they had received the allegations and were investigating the allegations.
