Facts

Consumers filed a purported class action against Philips Oral Healthcare Inc. concerning its oral health products.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS:
Plaintiff Amy Coe alleged that defendants' products, including the Sonicare Diamond Clean, FlexCare, FlexCare Plus, Healthy White, EasyClean, and Sonicare for Kids powered toothbrushes and related replacement parts were defective. Coe filed a class action on behalf of toothbrush purchasers, asserting, among others, breach of Washington and New Jersey state law. Two months later, plaintiffs Sam Chawla and Lance Ng filed a separate action, asserting similar claims under Washington, Connecticut, and New York state law. The complaints were later consolidated, and plaintiffs now moved for a nationwide class certification.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Defendant argued that the court should deny class certification because, under Washington's choice-of-law rules, the laws of the consumers' home states, and not Washington law, must apply to their claims. Defendant also argued that claims brought by Chawla and Ng were barred by the statute of limitations.

Result

The court granted Philips' motion to deny class certification. The court also dismissed Chawla's claim for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and found that Ng's claims were time-barred.

Other Information

FILING DATE: March 21, 2013.