Class Action Suit Motion against Nest gets Denied

DARISSE v. NEST LABS

You might have the read the news about Nest getting sued by a Justin Darisse. When a company like Nest (owned by Google) gets sued in a class action suit, it’s great news. But when the motion for class certification gets denied you will not hear about it. If a dog bites a man it’s not news, but when man bites a dog it’s a cover story.

The court case has taken a downturn when District Judge Beth Labson Freeman denied the motion by Draisse’s lawyers. According to court documents “Darisse has not satisfied Rule 23(a) or 23(b)(3). His motion for class certification is DENIED.”. This means the case not going to be a class action suit.

Most interesting part of the latest court documents are the details about the case. Draisse originally claimed the Nest thermostat plate overheats and that’s why it fails to calculate to current temperature in the house. He alleges that this defect causes customers to spend more on their energy bills. Sound like a valid claim if it’s true. But check this out. The court documents reveal that Draisse saved up to 22.2% on energy bill for the first year owning a Nest thermostat in 2014, but the second year he only saved up to 9%. How can you save up to 22% on your energy bill and claim that the machine is broken? It looks like Draisse just trying to make a quick buck here. Well, 5 million dollars in more than a buck but anyways. The court will decide the case in future.

We tried to contact the Plaintiffs lawyers, asking if they will pursue the case since it’s not a class action suit anymore but we go no response yet.

Google is keeping it quite as well, but not settling and keep fighting it on court means they think they have a great chance to win. After all, 5 million dollars is nothing to company like Google.

Resources:

DARISSE v. NEST LABS, INC., Dist. Court, ND California 2016

 

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