619-342-8000Haeggquist & Eck, LLP has been appointed lead counsel in a nationwide consumer class action against Sony Electronics, Inc. alleging that fundamental flaws in the design and/or manufacturing process in the VAIO Touchpad Notebooks render it almost impossible to use because the touchpad is prone to cause the onscreen cursor to track in reverse, freeze; and/or engage in erratic behavior (i.e., the pointer will randomly open and close windows and programs). Nation v. Sony Electronics, Inc., Case No. 09-CV-2603 BEN (RBB) (S.D. Cal.).
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January 16, 2014: On January 16, 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling that will allow the class action against Sony Electronics, Inc. to continue moving forward.
Previously, on September 25, 2013, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California issued an order granting class certification to California and New Jersey residents who allege Sony Electronics, Inc. knowingly marketed and sold laptops containing defective touchpad components. A redacted copy of the order can be found here. On October 10, 2013, Sony filed a Petition for Permission to Appeal the district court’s order, arguing, among other things, that the district court committed “manifest errror” by granting class certification. The law firms of Zeldes Haeggquist & Eck, LLP and Doyle Lowther, LLP, on behalf of the named plaintiffs and all similarly situated consumers, opposed Sony’s Petition.
On January 16, 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals summarily denied Sony’s Petition to Appeal, citing Chamberlan v. Ford Motor Co., 402 F.3d 952 (9th Cir. 2005), which holds that interlocutory appeals, such as the one Sony attempted, “are generally disfavored because they are ‘disrputive, time-consuming, and expensive.’” .
“As evident by the Ninth Circuit’s decision, Sony’s Petition fell well short of establishing the ‘rare occurrence’ worthy of interlocutory review,” said Aaron Olsen of Zeldes Haeggquist & Eck, LLP. “This is a great decision for consumers which will allow the certified class of consumers’ case to proceed toward obtaining relief for their allegedly defective Sony VAIO laptops.
October 28, 2010: On October 28, 2010, the Southern District of California issued an order upholding our class action complaint against Sony and Best Buy finding that “Plaintiffs have alleged that Sony knew about a material fact, the defective trackpad, from numerous consumer complaints, but concealed that information from Plaintiffs.” Order at 8. Plaintiffs also alleged that “if they had known about the defect, Plaintiffs never would have purchased the notebooks at the prices they paid.”Id. The Court upheld Plaintiffs’ claims for violations of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”), Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”), breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and Florida Deceptive And Unfair Trade Practices Act.
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