GE, Carrier Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Alleged Fire Control System Defect
The lawsuit seeks more than $5 million in response to a ‘defect’ that renders the fire control units non-conforming to the minimum standards required by both UL and NFPA 72.
The Interlogix Concord IV Control Solution.
TRENTON, N.J. — A class action lawsuit has been filed against General Electric Company and Carrier for allegedly selling combination-listed burglar and fire alarm system control units with defects, dangers and non-conformities.
The units in question were sold under the brand name Interlogix, and manufactured and sold by GE, UTC, UTC Security and Carrier.
According to the lawsuit, the Interlogix alarm system control unit was manufactured and sold by GE from 2002 through 2009 under the GE Security name, and then UTC from 2010 through late 2015 under the Interlogix brand name and then UTC Security from late 2015 through early 2020 under the Interlogix brand name
It was then sold by Carrier under the Interlogix brand name after UTC Security was spun off into Carrier in early 2020.
The lawsuit states, “The serious defects, dangers and non-conformities which Defendants have known about for years, and/or were required to know about for years, and long before they designed, sold, and put their products out into the stream of commerce can lead to an instantaneous and catastrophic failure of the alarm system’s combination-listed control unit during a fire. In this dangerously silent and non-functional state, instead of the alarm system performing its crucial life safety function by audibly warning all occupants inside the home of the fire emergency and the central station, the combination listed control unit fails.”
These alleged defects are said to render the control units non-conforming to the minimum standards required by both UL and NFPA 72 Standards. The lawsuit says before the Defendants submitted their equipment to be listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory such as UL, they were required to verify that their equipment was conforming.
The defect pointed out in the lawsuit is if the data-bus circuit wiring is faulted and/or shorted anywhere it is installed throughout the home by fire, the non-conforming control unit is instantly rendered non-functional.
If the combination listed control unit was conforming, fire attacking the single data-bus circuit of the combination listed control unit or any equipment that is required to connect to the single data-bus of the combination listed control unit shall not cause the system to be rendered non-functional, since conforming to both UL and NFPA 72 Standards specifically prohibits this loss of functionality from happening, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also claims that GE and Carrier’s were aware of the defects, dangers and non-conformities and concealed them from consumers and/or failed to disclose the plaintiff and the class, while at the same time affirmatively representing the high quality and safety of their control unit systems meeting both UL and NFPA Standards.
The class action’s plaintiff learned of the alleged defects when he upgraded his Interlogix Concord IV Control Unit to a new wireless radio alarm transmitter in August 2021.
The class action lawsuit the contains more than 100 members and seeks in the aggregate more than $5 million, exclusive of costs and interest.
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About the Author
Steve Karantzoulidis, Web/Senior Editor
Steven A. Karantzoulidis is the Web Editor for Security Sales & Integration. He graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst with a degree in Communication and has a background in Film, A/V and Social Media.
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