Legal & Courts  January 17, 2025

Consumers sue OtterBox over warranty issues

OtterBox confirms layoffs amid restructuring

OtterBox headquarters in Fort Collins. BizWest file photo
By

FORT COLLINS — Two consumers have filed a class-action lawsuit against Fort Collins-based Otter Products LLC, alleging that it failed to maintain its consumer warranty on its cell phone and tablet protection products.

Troy Button of Florida and Tresha Davenport of Fountain have brought the lawsuit on behalf of others who may also have a claim because they say Otter Products did not replace its cases per its lifetime warranty. According to the lawsuit, the “lifetime” warranty is based on the life of the products, which is seven years.

OtterBox sells protective cases for iPhones and Samsung phones, as well as tablets.

In an unrelated event, OtterBox this week underwent a company restructuring, which resulted in employee layoffs. Company spokeswoman Kristen Tatti confirmed the layoffs, but she said she could not report a specific number. She did say it didn’t trigger a state Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act notice.

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According to the state Department of Labor and Employment, “a covered employer must give notice if there is to be a mass layoff which does not result from a plant closing, but which will result in an employment loss at the employment site during any 30-day period for 500 or more employees, or for 50-499 employees if they make up at least 33% of the employer’s active workforce.” 

Tatti said the consumer marketplace is evolving, which necessitated the restructuring.

“We definitely see that there is still a great market need for our product, (the company restructuring) is more about how consumers are researching and purchasing OtterBox products,” Tatti said.

She said she could not discuss the pending lawsuit, which was filed this week in Larimer District Court.

Button said he purchased an OtterBox Commuter Series Smartphone Case from Walmart in 2021. Within three years of his purchase, “the case started to degrade and materials on the case started to fall off under normal use of the case,” the lawsuit stated. In July 2024, he filed a claim on the OtterBox website, at which time, he received the following message: “all cases for your device have been discontinued and we no longer have any replacements available. … We do not try to keep products in stock for as long as possible, the rapid change of technology makes it necessary to eventually say goodbye to some of our favorite cases. We are happy to provide you with a 15% discount on your next purchase from our OtterBox website.”

Davenport stated in the lawsuit that she purchased an OtterBox Defender Series Smartphone Case from Best Buy in 2021. After a year, the materials began to degrade and materials began to fall off the case, the lawsuit stated. She filed a claim in August 2021. She reported that she never received a replacement, repair or refund.

According to the lawsuit: “OtterBox warrants its products against defects in manufacturing, material, or workmanship under normal use and will repair its products or replace its products with a new or refurbished product or replace its products with the same or similar style or a substitute equivalent to the product depending on availability. Further, OtterBox represents in its warranty that it will make every effort to replace a discontinued product still under warranty with an identical product or an equivalent model based on availability.”

OtterBox has yet to answer the complaint, which was filed Jan. 14.

Case cited:

2025CV30046, Troy Button and Tresha Davenport, on behalf of others similarly situated vs. Otter Products LLC, in Larimer District Court, filed Jan. 14, 2025.

A class-action lawsuit against Otter Products, which is laying off workers, alleges that it failed to maintain its consumer warranty on its cell phone and tablet protection products.

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Sharon Dunn is an award-winning journalist covering business, banking, real estate, energy, local government and crime in Northern Colorado since 1994. She began her journalism career in Alaska after graduating Metropolitan State College in Denver in 1992. She found her way back to Colorado, where she worked at the Greeley Tribune for 25 years. She has a master's degree in communications management from the University of Denver. She is married and has one grown daughter — and a beloved English pointer at her side while she writes. When not writing, you may find her enjoying embroidery and crochet projects, watching football, or kayaking and birdwatching on a high-mountain lake.
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