Class-Action Decertified in Lawsuits Against Microsoft’s Vista

Consumers who sued Microsoft Corp. claiming the company misled them about which computers could be upgraded to run on the new Windows Vista operating system cannot sue the computer giant as a class, but can do so individually, a federal court judge has ruled in reversing her previous order.

Dianne Kelley and other computer buyers sued Microsoft in 2007 saying the company, in 2006, authorized computer makers to put a “Windows Vista Capable” sticker on new PCs indicating which machines currently running on Windows XP could support the company’s new operating system. However, many of the computers bearing the stickers could only be upgraded to the company’s Windows Home Basic program, which does not have all the same features as the Premium version, their suits allege. Those computers did not have stickers indicating they were only “Premium Ready.”

The plaintiffs argued they were mislead by Microsoft into buying computer they thought were Vista capable and sought class-action status to sue Microsoft collectively for damages. Microsoft argued that the differences between the various versions of its Vista and XP operating systems were made clear through marketing and advertising campaigns.

In February 2008, Judge Marsha Pechman of the U.S. District Court in Seattle granted class-action status to the suits after finding that “common issues predominate” and that the cases should go forward as one class, not individually. The judge did narrow the legal issues the plaintiffs could pursue in their class-action suit.

Then, on February 18, 2009, Judge Pechman reversed her earlier ruling after finding that the plaintiffs had failed to demonstrate, as she required, that their claims against Microsoft were common to all consumers who bought computers marked “Windows Vista Capable” but did not bear a “Premium Ready” label. The judge found that the plaintiff’s allegations on those points were based on assumptions and anecdotes that did not hold up in court.

However, while decertifying the class-action status, the judge gave the green light for the plaintiffs to move forward individually with their lawsuits against Microsoft and issued no ruling on the merits of their legal claims.

The case is Dianne Kelley, et al. v. Microsoft Corp, United States District Court, Western District of Washington at Seattle, No. C07-0475 MJP.

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