A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed in New Jersey against Apple after a man died in an apartment fire allegedly caused by his iPad bursting into flames.
The lawsuit states that the fire started on February 22 in 2017 and ‘was caused by a defect in the subject tablet, specifically affecting the subject tablet’s battery pack.’ It goes on to say that the fire resulted in the death of Bradley Ireland. The lawsuit is being brought by his daughter, Julia Ireland Meo.
The lawsuit suggests that the iPad ‘was unreasonably dangerous and unsafe’ and as such Apple is responsible for the wrongful death of Ireland.
It seeks unspecified damages.
A tiny amount of lithium ion batteries used in the iPad and other tablets, smartphones and other devices can catch fire. This is usually due to an impact or from extreme temperatures, but have also spontaneously combusted. The incidence of lithium-ion battery fires is approximately one in 10 million.
Samsung faced a scandal back in 2017, when it was forced to recall its Galaxy Note 7 device, when a design defect caused the batteries used in the device to burst into flames.