A consumer complaint filed in the Eastern District of California late week has accused E-Filliate Inc. of designing and making unsafe earphones. The filing claims that the company’s DeWALT Jobsite Pro Earphones are subject to overheating while they charge, creating safety and fire hazards, as recognized by a U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) December 2021 recall.
The defendant is a Southern California-headquartered company that sells consumer goods through retail outlets such as Lowe’s and Ace Hardware, the complaint says.
Last week’s product liability lawsuit asserts that E-Filliate was on notice of the faulty products owing to the fact that more than four dozen complaints were filed with the CPSC including several reporting that the earphones combusted and others reporting user burns. The complaints were transmitted to the defendant per CPSC regulations, yet it continued to make and sell the earphones, the lawsuit says.
In addition, the New York plaintiff takes issue with E-Filliate’s proposed solution for aggrieved purchasers, a replacement pair of earphones, which came in the wake of the 300,000-product recall. The filing accuses the proposed offer of woeful inadequacy because it under-compensates purchasers exposed to the dangerous product while shielding E-Filliate’s profits.
The plaintiff, a New York resident, claims he would not have purchased the product or would have paid significantly less for it had he known that it was unfit to perform its intended purpose. The consumer seeks to certify a nationwide class and a New York subclass of earphone purchasers. The lawsuit states claims under New York, federal, and common law for breach of warranty and unfair business practices.
The plaintiff is represented by Bursor & Fisher P.A.
