In the last few months, the prominent accessory creator Anker has been hit with a number of big product recalls. Now, it’s being hit with a pair of class action lawsuits, which accuse the power bank maker of not doing enough to warn of the dangers of lithium-ion batteries, and not offering enough compensation (via PhoneArena).
As is usual with class action lawsuits, you can be in on the action too if you purchased one of the power banks involved in a recall. Here’s everything you need to know about it.
A pair of class action lawsuits hit Anker
Only the latest in a series of setbacks
As if having to recall and replace a number of power banks wasn’t bad enough, now Anker has to deal with a pair of lawsuits as well. Both lawsuits allege Anker violated state and federal consumer laws, but the details of each are a little bit different.
The first lawsuit, filed by Jerry Light on June 19 in California’s federal court, argues that Anker did not warn consumers well enough about the dangers of lithium-ion batteries, and that Light would never have purchased the recalled product had he known about the defect — though it begs the question of who would purchase a knowingly faulty product. However, that ties into the second part of Light’s lawsuit, which finds Anker’s response to the recall lacking. Anker offered a free replacement for the affected power bank, or a coupon to use on its web store. Light argues that Anker should have issued cash refunds for the recall, rather than simply replacing it with store credit or another power bank. In addition, the current recall and replacement does not cover any damage suffered by potentially faulty power banks.
The second lawsuit also claims that Anker’s response could have been better. Filed by Christopher Hall in New York federal court on July 2, this lawsuit centers around Anker’s safety precautions, and argues that the advertised overcharge protection and output temperature control were false. Since customers may have paid more for these safety reassurances, Hall is arguing that Anker should be held to account for those shortcomings.
You may be eligible to join the lawsuits
How this shakes down will be down to the courts, of course, but since these are class action lawsuits, you can get in on the potential compensation too. Both lawsuits want to speak to anyone who bought an Anker power bank June 2016 and December 2022, and it seems as if it doesn’t just cover the power banks that had previously been recalled.
Don’t expect to get rich off the back of this lawsuit by any means, as this likely won’t result in much if Anker eventually settles, but it’s there if you want to get involved.
