Samsung Stung on Arbitration in Another Phone Fire Case

Samsung Electronics America Inc. can’t make a mobile phone purchaser take her individual and class overheating-device claims to arbitration, a federal court in Pennsylvania said May 21.

The court echoed a ruling in California less than two weeks ago that allowed an injured man’s claims to stay in court despite an arbitration clause.

The decisions show that despite the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision enforcing an employment arbitration clause, also on May 21, lower courts can sometimes find ways around arbitration clauses.

The courts in the Samsung cases both said the company didn’t give consumers enough notice that a product booklet ...