Samsung Galaxy Note9 reportedly catches fire in a woman’s purse, lawsuit against company asks to cease sale of the phone

Review: Samsung Galaxy Note 9We’re two Note devices in since the whole Samsung Galaxy Note7 debacle and just last month at the Galaxy Note9 launch, the company assured that Note users “do not have to worry about the batteries anymore.” Samsung says the Note9’s battery is “safer than ever.” However, the company is now facing a lawsuit just barely a month since the launch.

The New York Post reports on NYC-based realtor Diane Chung’s case of her Note9 bursting into flames inside her purse earlier this September. The phone felt unusually hot when she was using it and when she placed it in her purse a few minutes later, it started “whistling” and let out thick smoke. The incident happened inside an elevator, leaving her panicked and the elevator filled with smoke. The phone burned her fingers as she tried to remove it from her purse. When she was able to kick the phone out of the elevator, a passerby was able to grab the device with a cloth and dumped it in a bucket of water.

Chung has filed a suit against Samsung for the “traumatic” experience as well as losing contacts with clients and everything in her bag. She is suing for unspecified damages and says Samsung should’ve known its phone was defective. She also asks for the sales of the Galaxy Note9 to be stopped. Samsung released a statement saying no other reports of “exploding” Note9s have been received so far and they are investigating this matter.

While an unfortunate incident, battery-powered electronic devices do carry risks of experiencing issues that could include battery swelling or fires. When a phone’s battery explodes, it could be due to impact damage. But it isn’t known if that’s what happened either. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that any other Note9 phone has the issue. But it definitely doesn’t bode well for the company.

Source: BGR