Last week, a class action law suit was filed against leader in the drone industry, DJI Technology, Inc. (DJI), for an allegedly harmful firmware update that occurred in December 2015 that rendered certain commercial drones in its Phantom 2 line of drones unable to record video or take photographs. DJI is accused of ignoring the injury that thousands of Phantom 2 drone owners faced in light of this damaging update. DJI allegedly refused to reimburse them, replace the product or take responsibility for the alleged flaw. The complaint states, “The lost functionality of the Phantom 2 drones occurred because the defective firmware update created and released by defendants, which critically affected the drones’ range extender and Wi-Fi modules, which are component parts of the drones.”
Lead plaintiff, Kevin Sives of Pennsylvania, says that DJI is responsible for loss of money and property due to the allegedly defective update. He seeks to represent a nationwide class (and a subclass of Pennsylvania residents fitting the same qualifications) of all purchasers of the Phantom 2, Phantom 2 Vision and Phantom 2 Vision + quadcopter drones who downloaded and installed the December 2015 DJI Vision update. Sives claims include breach of express warranty, breach of written warranty, breach of implied warranty, breach of duty of good faith dealing, negligence and breach of Pennsylvania’s unfair trade practices and consumer protection law for the proposed subclass of plaintiffs. Sives is seeking general and punitive damages, a court order for DJI to repair or recall the Phantom 2 drones and attorneys’ fees.