Verb v. Motorola, Inc.
State: Illinois
Court: 1st District Appellate
Docket No: 1-93-3248
Case Date: 11/12/1996
No. 1--93--3248
ROBERT VERB, LEONARD ABRAMS, ) Appeal from the
KIRBY CLAIRE, MICHAEL VOGENTHALER, ) Circuit Court of
BRIDGETTE VOGENTHALER, GARY ) Cook County.
SHULMAN, TIMOTHY GIANOUS and GLENN )
MILLER, individually and on behalf )
of all others similarly situated, )
)
Plaintiffs-Appellants, )
)
v. )
)
MOTOROLA, INC., MITSUBISHI ELECTRONIC )
CORP., NOKIA MOBILE PHONES, INC., )
AUDIOVOX CORPORATION, TOSHIBA )
CORPORATION, PANASONIC COMMUNICATIONS )
AND SYSTEMS COMPANY, A DIVISION OF )
MATSUSHITA ELECTRONIC CORPORATION )
OF AMERICA, OKI ELECTRIC INDUSTRY )
COMPANY, LTD. and SOUTHWESTERN BELL )
MOBILE SYSTEMS, INC., d/b/a )
CellularOne, ) Honorable
) Edwin M. Berman,
Defendants-Appellees. ) Judge Presiding.
JUSTICE BURKE delivered the modified opinion of the court upon
denial of rehearing:
Plaintiffs Robert Verb and others similarly situated, who
purchased cellular telephones from defendants Motorola and other
similar companies, appeal from an order of the circuit court
dismissing their second amended complaint against defendants
pursuant to section 2--615 of the Illinois Code of Civil Procedure
(Code) (735 ILCS 5/2--615) (West 1992)) and their class allegations
pursuant to sections 2--615 and 2--801 of the Code (735 ILCS 5/2--
615, 2--801) (West 1992)). On appeal, plaintiffs contend that the
trial court erred in holding that federal law preempted the trial
court's jurisdictional power to hear this case, the Federal
Communications Commission and/or the Food and Drug Administration
have primary jurisdiction over this case, and that plaintiffs
failed to allege a compensable injury in their second amended
complaint (complaint). Plaintiffs further argue that they properly
alleged all essential elements of each cause of action contained in
their complaint and that the trial court erred in dismissing their
class action allegations. For the reasons set forth below, we
affirm.
Plaintiffs' eight-count complaint included claims of breach of
implied warranty of merchantability, breach of implied warranty of
fitness for a particular purpose, breach of express warranty,
violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act, negligence, strict
liability, consumer fraud and deceptive trade practices. These
claims were based on plaintiffs' allegations that a specific design
of a cellular telephone manufactured by defendants may cause an
increase in health risks to plaintiffs. That design combines the
transmission antenna, which emits the cellular telephone's radio
wave, and the mouthpiece of the cellular telephone into a single
unit. Plaintiffs alleged a class consisting of people who
similarly purchased, leased or obtained the cellular telephone for
value. Plaintiffs purchased their cellular telephones from
defendants between June 23, 1989 and December 21, 1992.
Plaintiffs further alleged that defendants' cellular telephone
operates over a high frequency electromagnetic radio wave at a low
power level and that scientific research has shown that certain
high frequency emissions have "biological effects." More
specifically, plaintiffs alleged that tests performed just below
the frequency range used by cellular telephones indicate a
penetration of the blood-brain barrier in test animals and that
radio waves emitted below and above the frequency range used by
cellular telephones causes both a breakdown in the calcium that
coats cell walls and abnormal growth of human cells. Plaintiffs
also claimed that defendants conducted few, if any tests, regarding
the frequency range used by cellular telephones and the long-term
cumulative health effects on the public.
Plaintiffs further alleged that defendants did not inform the
public prior to 1992 that there is a lack of empirical data about
radio waves at the frequency that cellular telephones operate on
and of the possibilities of harmful physical effects to a user of
the cellular telephone; that in 1990 "an Environmental Protection
Agency report concluded that eletromagnetic fields were probable or
possible carcinogens"; that "8 years *** later, certain defendants
are only now commissioning appropriate or adequate studies on how
cellular phones affect users' exposure to radio waves, the results
of which will not be conclusive for several years"; on February 1,
1993, "defendant Cellone" mailed correspondence to plaintiff
including a letter and brochure entitled 'SAFE CELLULAR PHONES'";
and on February 4, 1993, defendant Motorola's president stated that
the cellular telephones' safety is "rooted in scientific fact."
Plaintiffs also alleged directly in each count, or by
incorporation, as follows:
"*** [D]efendant [sic] failed to
adequately warn plaintiffs and the general
public that (1) defendants had not conducted
tests to discern whether use of the cellular
phones posed any health risks to the users,
and that (2) use of cellular phones may be
hazardous to the user's health.
*** Defendants also failed to adequately
package and/or label the cellular phones to
apprise the plaintiffs and the general public
that (1) defendants had not conducted tests to
discern whether use of the cellular phones
posed any health risks to the users, and that
(2) use of cellular phones may be hazardous to
the users' health." (Emphasis added.)
As a result of their use of the cellular telephones, plaintiffs
alleged that they had been damaged as follows:
"[Plaintiffs] and [m]embers of the Class have
been damaged by a reduction in the value of
the cellular phones, by lessening their use of
the cellular phones, by modifying the cellular
phones or the use thereof to limit or mitigate
their exposure to the harmful or potentially
harmful radio waves, by being subjected to
increased risk of exposure to harmful or
potentially harmful radio waves, and by
suffering increased risk of personal injury,
whether manifested or not, or personal injury
and the concomitant emotional distress
associated with either."
Defendants filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs' complaint
pursuant to section 2--615 of the Code and to dismiss the class
action allegations pursuant to sections 2--615, and 2--801. 735
ILCS 5/2--615, 2--801 (West 1992). Plaintiffs filed an emergency
motion for class certification, and an evidentiary hearing was held
on June 24 and 25, 1993, at which time two of plaintiffs' experts
testified with respect to whether the radiation emitted from
cellular telephones pose a health risk to consumers. During that
hearing, after the experts had testified, the following colloquy
occurred:
"MR. GOODHART [one of plaintiffs'
attorneys]: *** I think our complaint alleged
that we said there was a risk and a lack of
warnings of that risk. And that has been our
contention all along, that there are no safe
cellular phones ***.
***
THE COURT: There is no warning because
there is no definitive study which can
actually say that the cellular phone is
dangerous.
***
MR. JOHNSON [one of defendants'
attorneys]: *** What we're talking about is a
debate, a scientific debate. This is a debate
that's being carried on at the EPA. We've
seen that. At the FDA, we've seen those
conclusions. The FCC ***.
***
THE COURT: [Assuming you prove your
case,] *** what remedy do you want me to
impose on them?
***
MR. DRURY [one of plaintiffs' attorneys]:
*** These defendants have been misinforming
the public as to the, quote, 'safety' of their
telephones.
We believe we have demonstrated today
that there is a need to inform the public out
there that that isn't the fact, that these
phones are not safe.
***
THE COURT: What do you want me to do
about it?
MR. DRURY: *** I want the public to be
informed by way of a class certification.
***
What I'm saying, your Honor, is part of a
remedy would be a warning.
As Mr. Goodhart said, our complaint is
addressed to warning the people about what we
believe to be a defective product, telling
them that there is a risk associated with the
use of the phone.
THE COURT: Based on this testimony, you
expect this Court to issue a worldwide warning
against the use of cellular phones?
MR. DRURY: *** All I would ask that in
any notice that goes to this class to be
certified is that they be notified that there
is a risk, a risk associated with the use of
the phone ***.
THE COURT: I don't know if I'm
interfering with a governmental function, an
administrative function. I think that's the
function of the administrative agencies, to
make a determination as to whether something
is healthful, unhealthful, dangerous to your
health. That's a governmental function to put
that before the people.
***
*** What you want me to certify is a
class of users of phones who may *** be at
risk; and therefore, I must certify a class to
broadcast to the public that there may be a
causal connection.
***
MR. DRURY: But for those persons ***
[who would be in a non-manifested class with
respect to an injury], we're asking at this
stage of the proceeding, that that class be
informed that there's a risk out there before
we go too far.
***
MR. BARNOW [one of plaintiffs'
attorneys]: *** [W]hat I thought I heard
earlier was the unification, if you will, or
the mating of the idea of the class
certification along with a warning.
What I respectfully am suggesting to the
Court is that we separate those and have the
class certification separate from the warning
and defer the determination of ruling on
whether or not the warning will happen and in
what form it will happen in [sic] a later
date, but not to confuse whether or not a
warning is issued with the class certification.
THE COURT: Am I being called upon to
give a warning?
MR. DRURY: *** With respect to remedy, I
think an appropriate remedy, irrespective of
whether a class is certified or not--and I
concur with Mr. Barnow--as to we should be
able to separate the warning, the risk, from
certification--is while this case was pending,
*** the cellular phone industry put out *** a
pamphlet that basically said we have all these
tests, these phones are safe, [defendants
could] add a few paraphrases from different
sources indicating it's not safe.
***
Just so there's something in there that
would indicate to the public that there's a
contrary point of view. *** They could do
that in two or three sentences. ***
*** [D]irect these defendants, if they're
going to send out something about safety, ***
indicating there's a contra position out
there.
***
*** You can, as [an] appropriate remedy,
*** direct these Defendants to inform the
public along the lines that I've suggested.
You don't need a class certification for
that. Based upon this evidence, you could
make a decision that the public has been
misinformed, that it's not accurate.
THE COURT: I don't think I can do that.
MR. DRURY: It's not accurate to say
those phones are safe.
***
Could the court not direct these
Defendants to say that they should no longer
put out in their publications to the public
something not to say that the phone is safe?
Not say that the phone is safe as opposed to
their coming out and saying definitively it is
safe? Remove that. Remove that?" (Emphasis
added.)
At the hearing on defendants' motion to dismiss, the following
colloquy occurred:
MS. FIETSAM [one of plaintiffs'
attorneys]: This case is not only based on
fraudulent misrepresentations, it's based on
faudulent omissions. These Defendants are
manufacturing phones with no warnings
whatsoever.
***
They are supposed to, you know, we are
currently contributing twenty-five million
dollars to study the effects of these, the
health effects of these phones because we
don't know. They have not been conclusively
proven safe.
***
THE COURT: What is the legal question
that you are presenting me with?
MS. FIETSAM: Whether or not these
Defendants have issued or have manufactured
deceptive products.
THE COURT: You mean defective?
MS. FIETSAM: Yes, defective products,
*** without adequate warnings.
THE COURT: Defective products that will
injure or cause injury to people without
warning, ***.
MS. FIETSAM: The case law is clear that
failure to warn is in and of itself a defect.
***.
THE COURT: It's not. It's a non-warning
case. They haven't warned about anything.
MS. FIETSAM: That's right.
THE COURT: But you've got to show me
under your proposition, *** [that] there is
something there that says they should warn
these users about these cellular phones, and I
fail to see anything yet as to what they
should warn them about.
***
*** [H]ow do you respond to the fact that
your allegation of fraud occurred after these
people purchased their phones?
MS. FIETSAM: That is part of our
allegations. The thrust of this case also
goes to the warnings and the fraudulent
omissions promulgated later *** supported by
the fact they've got the president waiting out
there today to say these phones are safe.
They are saying that. They are not denying
that, and that is only part of our Complaint.
This is a fraudulent omission complaint based
on the failure to warn.
***
MR. DRURY: This case is not about your
Honor issuing warnings. That's not the total
part of this case. This case is about the
Defendant [sic] not having put any warnings
whatsoever with respect to its product and the
lack of those warnings creating a defect.
***
We have telephones out there. These
phones are manufactured by these Defendants.
There are absolutely no warnings with respect
to these phones concerning the fact that there
is no data whatever to show that these phones
are safe. There's no warnings with respect to
these phones that exposure to the
electromagnetic raidation which is emanating
from these phones increases the risk of
disease, predisposes one to disease or
cancer." (Emphasis added.)
The trial court granted defendants' motions and dismissed
plaintiffs' complaint and the class action allegations, holding
that "the subject matter of this action is preempted by federal
law. The FCC and/or FDA have primary jurisdiction over the issues
raised in this case." The trial court further ruled that
"[p]laintiffs have not alleged a compensable injury." This appeal
followed.
Plaintiffs contend that the trial court erred in holding that
the federal laws providing authority to the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
preempted the trial court's jurisdictional power to hear this case.
Plaintiffs argue that the subject matter of their complaint sought
to hold defendants to the same common law duties that all business
entities are required to uphold. Specifically, plaintiffs alleged
in their complaint that defendants made inadequate warnings and
affirmative fraudulent misrepresentations concerning the safety of
cellular telephones. Plaintiffs also argue that the savings clause
provided in the federal statutes does not preempt a private person
from seeking redress for private injuries in court. Defendants
argue that the state's power over the issue of cellular telephone
safety is preempted by the pervasive federal regulatory scheme of
the FCC and FDA.
The preemption doctrine provides that when Congress asserts
exclusive power over a particular matter, no state has power over
that matter. Kellerman v. MCI Telecommunications, 122 Ill. 2d 428,
438, 493 N.E.2d 1045 (1986). Congress can assert exclusive power
either by explicit statutory language or by regulating a matter in
such detail as to leave no room for state involvement. Kellerman,
122 Ill. 2d at 438; Fidelity Federal Savings & Loan Ass'n v. De la
Cuesta, 458 U.S. 141, 153 L. Ed. 2d 664, 102 S. Ct. 3014 (1982);
International Paper Co. v. Ouellette, 479 U.S. 481, 93 L. Ed. 2d
883, 107 S. Ct. 805 (1987). "The preemption doctrine, which has
its origin in the supremacy clause of the Federal Constitution
(U.S. Const., art. VI, cl. 2), provides that Federal law will in
some instances override or preempt State laws on the same subject.
(Rice v. Santa Fe Elevator Corp. (1947), 331 U.S. 218, 229-31, 91
L. Ed. 1447, 1459, 67 S. Ct. 1146, 1151-53.) The key inquiry in
all preemption cases is the objective or purpose of Congress in
enacting the particular statute. The doctrine requires courts to
examine the Federal statute in question to determine whether
Congress intended it to supplant State laws on the same subject.
(Allis-Chalmers Corp. v. Lueck (1985), 471 U.S. 202, 208, 85 L. Ed.
2d 206, 213, 105 S. Ct. 1904, 1910.)" Kellerman, 122 Ill. 2d at
438.
The parties have not directed us to a specific statute that
governs the FCC's regulation of the cellular telephone industry
with regard to the health effects or safety of cellular telephones.
Accordingly, because there is no direct conflict between federal
and state law, there can be no preemption on the grounds that a
federal law directly overrides state law. Kellerman, 122 Ill. 2d
at 438-39; International Paper, 479 U.S. at 881. Instead, the only
possible theory of FCC preemption would be if Congress regulated
the cellular telephone industry so pervasively as to exclude state
action on this subject. Kellerman, 122 Ill. 2d at 438-39;
International Paper, 479 U.S. at 881. The FCC regulates the
frequency, channel spacing, and power limitations for cellular
telephone use. 47 CFR 22.900-22.903 (1994). The FCC also
regulates who may provide cellular telephone services and how these
service providers must structure their businesses. 47 CFR 22.900-
22.903 (1994). Therefore, the FCC does not have the responsibility
for public safety with regard to cellular telephones as its
responsibilities lie in regulating frequency standards. FCC Rep.
on Proposed Rule Making "Guidelines for Evaluating the
Environmental Effects of Radiofrequency Radiation" (No. 93-
62)(1993); Kellerman, 112 Ill. 2d at 440-41. Accordingly, since
Congress has not empowered the FCC to regulate cellular telephones
with regard to health effects and public safety, it has not
regulated so pervasively as to preclude state action on that
subject. Therefore, FCC regulations cannot preempt a state's power
on the issue in the instant case, i.e., whether cellular telephones
are unsafe and pose an increased health risk to plaintiffs.
We find, however, that the FDA does preempt a state's power
over the issues in the case at bar because the FDA directly
regulates electronic products that emit radiation with regard to
public health. Specifically, the Electronic Product Radiation
Control Act (Act) (21 U.S.C.S. 360kk(a)(1)(1995)) provides that the
FDA Secretary shall
"[b]y regulation prescribe performance standards for
electronic products to control the emission of
electronic product radiation from such products if he
determines that such standards are necessary for the
protection of the public health and safety. Such
standards may include provisions for the testing of
such products and the measurements of their
electronic product radiation emissions, may require
the attachment of warning signs and labels, and may
require the provision of instructions for the
installation, operation, and use of such products."
(Emphasis added.)
Congress further provided that whenever any standard prescribed
pursuant to the Act is in effect, no state shall have the authority
to act in conflict with that prescribed standard, unless that state
act is to impose a more restrictive standard than required by
federal law, but only on electronic products procured for the
state's own use. 21 U.S.C.S. 360ss (1990).
In the present case, plaintiffs' complaint, without properly
pleading allegations of an injury or damages as discussed below,
centered on the lack of warnings as to the safety of and possible
health risks caused by cellular telephones purchased by them which,
the parties agree, emit radiation. More specifically, as stated in
plaintiffs' opening brief on appeal, "This case arises out of the
Defendants' failure to warn the consuming public, including
putative Plaintiffs, of the risks associated with the use of
cellular portable telephones and the Defendants' false
pronouncements of the phones' 'proven' safety, the safety of which
has clearly not been proven." (Emphasis in original.) During the
hearings on plaintiffs' emergency motion for class certification
and defendants' motion to dismiss, plaintiffs repeatedly argued
that the cellular telephones were not safe and that the public
should be warned. Plaintiffs in fact urged the trial court to
"direct" defendants to begin warning consumers that a contrary view
existed with respect to the safety of the telephones and/or that
the notice to the class, upon certification, include a statement
that there is a health risk associated with the telephones.
Accordingly, in light of the FDA's exclusive power "to prescribe
performance standards for electronic products to control the
emission of electronic product radiation *** for the protection of
the public health and safety" and to "require the attachment of
warnings and labels," it is irrelevant whether the FDA has not set
any standards, as plaintiffs allege, because the power to do so
nonethless resides with the FDA. Any determination by the trial
court as to whether the cellular telephones are unsafe and what
warnings and labels must be made would require the court to
establish standards of safety and warnings, which would usurp the
FDA's exclusive power to do so with respect to electronic products
that emit radiation. We therefore find that the trial court
properly ruled that plaintiffs' claims were preempted by the FDA.
Plaintiffs next argue, relying on Lohr v. Medtronic, Inc., ___
U.S. ___, 135 L. Ed. 2d 700, 116 S. Ct. 2240 (1996), that their
"causes of action dealing with misrepresentations and omissions of
fact sounding in consumer fraud, warranty, Magnusson Moss [sic] and
the like" are not preempted. In Lohr, the plaintiffs filed a two-
count complaint alleging negligence and strict liability based upon
a design defect against the defendant manufacturer of a pacemaker
which allegedly caused the plaintiff's injuries when the pacemaker
failed. The defendant filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing
that the plaintiff's claims were preempted by the federal Medical
Device Amendments of 1976 (MDA), an act in connection with the FDA.
Notwithstanding a specific preemption provision in the MDA and the
fact that the FDA had "pre-approved" the defendant's pacemaker to
enter the marketplace through an approval process provided by the
MDA, the Lohr court held that the plaintiff's negligence and strict
liability claims were not preempted by the MDA. The Lohr court
reasoned that a determination as to whether the pacemaker which
allegedly caused the plaintiff's injuries was defective would not
result in a state "requirement" that "would impede the ability of
federal regulators to implement and enforce specific federal
requirements" related to "a specific device or field of device
regulation which the statute or regulations were designed to
protect from potentially contradictory state requirements." Lohr,
___ U.S. at ___, 135 L. Ed. 2d at 725, 116 S. Ct. at 2258.
In the case at bar, plaintiffs' complaint alleged that
defendants made inadequate warnings and affirmative fraudulent
misrepresentations concerning the safety of the cellular
telephones; plaintiffs did not allege that a defect in defendants'
cellular telephones has caused a present personal injury, as the
Lohr plaintiff alleged the pacemaker had caused her injury, but
rather that the telephones may have caused an injury. Accordingly,
Lohr is distinguishable from the present case not only because it
involved a statute different from the one here, but more important
because plaintiffs here did not allege a present personal injury.
Based on the facts of this case, as previously stated above, a
determination by the trial court here as to whether defendants'
cellular telephones may pose a health and safety hazard to the
public would result in setting a safety standard for a "specific
device or field of device regulation, cellular telephones, which is
within the sole province of the FDA.
We also reject plaintiffs' specific argument that they
"properly alleged all essential elements of each cause of action"
and that their "causes of actions dealing with misrepresentations
and omissions of fact sounding in consumer fraud, warranty,
Magnusson Moss [sic] and the like" are not preempted. While we
acknowledge that under properly alleged facts these kinds of causes
of action may not be preempted by the present or other federal
statutes, such as in Lohr, that is not the situation here because
plaintiffs failed, at a minimum, to properly allege a compensable
personal injury and/or damages as to each count of their complaint,
notwithstanding their conflicting arguments to the contrary in the
trial court, their briefs on appeal, at oral argument before this
court and in their petition for rehearing.
More specifically, we note that plaintiffs alleged in their
complaint that they had suffered damages "by a reduction in the
value of the cellular phones, *** by being subjected to increased
risk of exposure to harmful or potentially harmful radio waves, and
by suffering increased risk of personal injury, whether manifested
or not, or personal injury and the concomitant emotional distress
associated with either." (Emphasis added.) At the hearing on
defendants' motion to dismiss plaintiffs' complaint, plaintiffs'
counsel, in response to the trial court's comment that plaintiffs
had not shown the court "anybody here who has been injured" and
that there was "only a possibility that somebody may be injured
down the road," stated, "That's correct." During the same hearing,
the court commented, "Nobody here has cancer. This is about an
inadequate or non-existent warning when they should have warned,"
to which plaintiffs' counsel replied, "We are asking for refunds of
money for the purchase of the phone. Possible diminution in value
because of any modifications." In plaintiffs' opening brief on
appeal, plaintiffs repeat their "personal injury/damages"
allegations contained in their complaint in support of their
argument that they adequately alleged a compensable injury. During
oral argument before this court, plaintiffs again argued that they
properly pled a personal injury based on testimony presented to the
trial court regarding the "breakdown of cells," as well as an
injury resulting from loss of the value of their cellular
telephones. In plaintiffs' petition for rehearing filed subsequent
to the issuance of this court's opinion in the instant case,
plaintiffs state, "None of the plaintiffs in this action have
suffered any demonstrable personal injuries," "plaintiffs do not
sue for any personal injuries in this case," and "no personal
injury claim was raised in this case."
Notwithstanding plaintiffs' apparent indecision as to what
their alleged injuries are, they were required to properly allege
a present personal injury and/or damages in each count of their
complaint. Crest Container Corp. v. R.H. Bishop Co., 111 Ill. App.
3d 1068, 1075, 445 N.E.2d 19 (1982) (breach of implied warranty of
merchantability, breach of implied warranty of fitness for a
particular purpose, and breach of express warranty under the
Uniform Commercial Code); Gorman v. Saf-T-Mate, Inc., 513 F. Supp.
1028, 1033, 1035-36 (1981) (Magnuson-Moss Act); Kirk v. Michael
Reese Hospital & Medical Center, 117 Ill. 2d 507, 525, 513 N.E.2d
387 (1987) (negligence); Doyle v. White Metal Rolling & Stamping
Corp., 249 Ill. App. 3d 370, 376, 618 N.E.2d 909 (1993) (strict
liability); Duran v. Leslie Oldsmobile, Inc., 229 Ill. App. 3d
1032, 1040-41, 594 N.E.2d 1355 (1992) (consumer fraud); Popp v.
Cash Station, Inc., 244 Ill. App. 3d 87, 98-99, 613 N.E.2d 1150
(1992) (Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act). "In Illinois,
possible future damages in a personal injury action are not
compensable." Morrissey v. Eli Lilly & Co., 76 Ill. App. 3d 753,
761, 394 N.E.2d 1369 (1979). It is also well settled that
conclusions of law or fact unsupported by specific facts are not
admitted. Knox College v. Celotex Corp., 88 Ill. 2d 407, 426, 430
N.E.2d 976 (1981).
In the present case, plaintiffs' future "personal injury and
damages" claims constitute conjecture and speculation. Plaintiffs
failed to plead specific facts that any of them have discontinued
the frequency of the use of their cellular telephones or that the
telephones have diminished in value. Additionally, plaintiffs'
claims are based upon their allegations that defendants' cellular
telephones may pose health risks, might be unsafe and that
plaintiffs may have suffered an "increased risk of injury." See
also Yost v. General Motors Corp., 651 F. Supp. 656, 657-58 (D.N.J.
1986) (where the plaintiff alleged that a potential leak in his
automobile engine was likely to cause damage and might create
potential safety hazards, the court held that the plaintiff failed
to properly allege damages for breach of warranty). Absent from
plaintiffs' complaint are allegations that plaintiffs, unlike the
two plaintiffs named as a subclass in plaintiffs' "third amended
complaint" which survived defendants' subsequent section 2--615
motion to dismiss, have a present personal injury and that
defendants' cellular telephones caused that injury. Nor did
plaintiffs allege that the telephones are defective; rather, their
warranty claims, like their other claims, are based upon the
possibility that the telephones may be defective because of the
"unproven" safety of those telephones.
We also especially note that with respect to plaintiffs'
consumer fraud claim, a plaintiff "can state a valid claim of
consumer fraud only where premised upon statements made prior to
their dates of purchase [of a product]." (Emphasis added.)
Connick v. Suzuki Motor Co., Ltd., No. 79589, slip op. at 13
(October 18, 1996), time for reh'g has not expired. Here, the
misrepresentations complained of by plaintiffs occurred in February
1993, after plaintiffs purchased their cellular telephones (between
June 23, 1989 and December 21, 1992). To the extent that
plaintiffs' complaint "revolves around" defendants' alleged
misrepresentations and omissions regarding the safety of the
cellular telephones and defendants' knowledge of their safety," as
plaintiffs argue, plaintiffs failed to state a cause of action
under the Consumer Fraud Act.
In summary, each count of plaintiffs' complaint fails to state
a cause of action because plaintiffs' claims are all based upon
mere theoretical possibilities of injury and/or damages.
Accordingly, notwithstanding that the trial court did not
specifically state that its finding of a lack of a "compensable
injury" pertained to each count of plaintiffs' complaint, we so
find.
In light of our decision affirming the trial court's dismissal
of plaintiffs' second amended complaint based on preemption and
lack of a compensable injury, we need not address the additional
issues raised by plaintiffs regarding primary jurisdiction and
class certification.
Affirmed.
SCARIANO and DiVITO, JJ., concur.
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