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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Xbox Class Action Faces Supreme Court Scrutiny

(CN) - The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to consider whether the Ninth Circuit had the authority to review denial of class certification even after disgruntled Xbox 360 users dismissed their claims against Microsoft.

Lead plaintiff Seth Baker sued Microsoft claiming that even the smallest vibration of his Xbox 360 sent game discs spinning out of control - scratching them on internal console components and rendering them permanently unplayable.

Microsoft argued only 0.4 percent of users reported the issue, and said consumer misuse was likely the real culprit.

A federal judge refused to certify the class, relying on reasoning in a case involving Land Rovers. And although the Ninth Circuit had reversed the Land Rover decision months before, the judge in the Xbox case deferred to the case anyway out of comity.

The Ninth Circuit then reversed denial of class certification in the Xbox case, in early 2015.

Microsoft appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which agreed to hear the case as it relates to a single question - whether the Ninth Circuit even had jurisdiction to hear the case since Baker and the other named plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their individual claims against Microsoft with prejudice before the appeal.

Per its custom, the high court did not issue any comment on the matter.

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