Apple sued over fatal fire allegedly caused by defective iPad

Apple is being sued by a person whose husband died from injuries caused by a fire, allegedly started by a defective iPad.

The fire took place back in February 2017. It was reportedly, “caused by a defect in the subject tablet, specifically affecting the subject tablet’s battery pack.”

The lawsuit is being brought by one Julia Ireland Meo, concerning her late husband Bradley Ireland. It asks Apple for unspecified damages. The suit claims”strict products liability,” “wrongful death” and “survival action” as the claims against Apple.

Lithium-ion problems

With no more details about the case in question, we won’t speculate on the circumstances that led to this sad story. No iPads have been recalled or reported as having large scale battery issues, meaning that this was seemingly a one-off incident.

Both iPhones and iPads rely on lithium-ion batteries, which can explode or catch fire on occasion. This can be due to a manufacturing fault or because of damage that causes the battery’s electrodes to touch. In some instances, dodgy third-party chargers have also caused phones to experience these faults.

Last year, an Apple Store in Amsterdam had to be evacuated after an iPad began emitting vapors. This led to three Apple Store employees being check over on site by ambulance personnel.

Hopefully all parties involved are able to get to the bottom of what happened here. We will report on what happens when and if this goes to court.

Source: Patently Apple