Class-action wants Apple to uphold iPhone water resistance promise to Quebec customers

Quebec lawsuit seeks class-action status against Apple over water-damaged iPhones. (Credit LPC Avocats)

A Quebec law firm is seeking authorization for a class-action lawsuit against Apple for anyone in the province who has had their iPhone damaged by water.

LPC Avocats argue that Apple advertises its iPhones as "water resistant," but that Apple Store employees "systematically refuse to repair or replace" the devices that came into contact with liquid based on a warranty exclusion for damage caused by getting it wet.

"In short, Apple's iPhones are consistently damaged by liquid contact that Apple advertised and promised that they could withstand," the law firm says. "As such, this class action seeks to have the clause in Apple's warranty excluding liquid contact voided and to obtain damages for all Class Members who were forced to pay any amount to replace or repair their iPhone due to liquid contact (or water damage) that occurred in conditions that Apple advertised and promised the iPhones could withstand."

Lawyer Joey Zukran is leading the case and is representing a 19-year-old CEGEP student who was in Mexico when her phone came into contact with water near a pool.

"It immediately stopped working, her phone was purchased brand new eight months ago," Zukran told CJAD 800 Radio host Elias Makos.

When his client took the phone to the Genius Bar, Zukran said she was told she was excluded due to it coming in contact with water.

"So the warranty says that it does not apply the data liquid contact, which is completely ridiculous when you look at the marketing that Apple uses," said Zukran. "How can you exclude liquid when you advertise that it can fall in a pool and be fine? (...) In the case of my clients, and many people who contact their office, they're not fine. Apple refuses to fix it, and the only remedy is to buy a brand new phone."

The class action seeks to make the "liquid contact" exclusion null and void, reimburse those who paid to have phones fixed and pay $500 to anyone who signs up for the case.

Zukran said that in Quebec, the law states that marketing forms part of a consumer contract and "declarations made by the representative of a company also form part of the contract."

"So you essentially have a contract that says your phone is 'Oops resistant', you can drop it in the pool, and you'll be fine, only to come a few paragraphs later and say liquid contact voids your warranty," he said. "So you have two contradictory clauses in a consumer contract, which, again, according to the law, has to be interpreted in favour of the consumer or the adherent."

It is not the first time Zukran has targeted Apple with a class-action lawsuit for violating Quebec's Consumer Protection Act.

In 2018, Zukran, along with another lawyer, argued that Apple failed to warn consumers of Quebec's legal warranty in the act and the fact that it requires manufacturers to guarantee their products, in this case, the phone's battery, for a reasonable amount of time.

The ruling went against Apple, and the Quebec Court of Appeal upheld the decision in 2021.