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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
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No Class Cert in Case of Lost Apple IMessages

SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A federal judge this week denied class certification of a lawsuit against Apple over lost text messages.

Adriene Moore sued Apple in 2014, claiming the tech giant failed to warn iMessage users that messages would go undelivered if they switched to a different brand of cellphone.

In November 2014, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh dismissed with prejudice Moore's claims under the Consumer Legal Remedies Act and related unfair competition and unfair business practices claims.

But Koh left intact Moore's claims of a tortious interference with contract claim and unfair competition claims related to the tortious interference claims.

In her Aug. 4 ruling, Koh found Moore offered sufficient that Apple device users, including her boss, sent her text messages that were never delivered to her Samsung Galaxy S5, establishing her own standing to file the complaint.

However, Koh ruled that Moore's proposed class was too broad because it included individuals that could not have been injured by Apple's alleged wrongful conduct.

"While many wireless service agreements may include the contractual right to send and receive text messages, plaintiff does not and cannot contend that every proposed class member's wireless service agreement included the right to receive text messages," Koh wrote in the 26-page ruling.

Moore had argued that "virtually all" wireless service agreements provide for text messaging and that an "overwhelming majority" offer unlimited text messages.

Koh rejected Moore's argument, finding merit in Apple's contention that several factors can cause a person not to receive text messages, including their individual wireless plans, errors in the cellular network, blocked senders, operating system bugs, and applications that interfere with receiving messages.

The judge denied Moore's request for class certification, ruling that the court would be forced to examine each situation of undelivered text messages on an individual basis to determine if Apple interfered with the proposed class members' contractual right to send and receive text messages.

Moore's attorney, Roy Katriel of the Katriel Law Firm in La Jolla, and Apple's attorney, David Walsh of Morrison & Foerster in Los Angeles, did not immediately return requests for comment.

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