Samsung's Biggest Class Action Settlements
Samsung's most notorious class action arose from the 2016 Galaxy Note 7 recall, when Samsung's flagship phone was found to contain defective batteries that overheated, caught fire, and in some cases exploded. Samsung recalled all Galaxy Note 7 devices and paid billions in refunds, exchange credits, and class action settlements. Samsung top-loading washing machines — specifically models with UL certification — were subject to a $34 million class action settlement after the machines violently vibrated and in some cases exploded during the spin cycle, causing property damage. Samsung Galaxy phones (S6, S7, S8, and later models) have been the subject of class actions over defective front-facing cameras, screen burn-in defects on AMOLED displays, and performance throttling through software updates.