Thanks to a network outage earlier this month that left BlackBerry customers around the world without messaging and other services for days, Research in Motion finds itself embroiled in litigation.
The BlackBerry maker is facing lawsuits in its home country of Canada and the United States.
Last week, a lawsuit alleging breach of contract, negligence and unjust enrichment was filed against RIM in federal court in Santa Ana, Calif., on behalf of U.S. BlackBerry owners with an active service agreement at the time of the email, Internet and messaging interruptions, Reuters reported. RIM also has been named a defendant in a Canadian lawsuit that was filed in Quebec Superior Court on behalf of Canadian BlackBerry owners with an active service agreement, according to the report.
Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM hadn't been served with the lawsuits immediately and told BBC that the company "will formally respond to the matter in due course."
The U.S. lawsuit was brought by Eric Mitchell – a Sherman Oaks, Calif. resident – and seeks damages, including cash compensation for service fees along with attorneys' fees and legal expenses, according to Reuters.
One of the suits claims RIM "is responsible for BlackBerry users' loss of email, BB, and/or internet service for approximately one and a half days," BBC reported. "It has not compensated consumers on a prorated basis for such loss of use, while knowing full well that Blackberry users pay a monthly fee to their wireless service providers for data services and that they were deprived thereof."
Earlier this month following a network outage that lasted for several days, RIM apologized to its 70 million BlackBerry customers, vowed to restore their trust and noted a selection of premium apps would be available to download for free as an expression of appreciation to its subscribers for enduring the service interruptions.
The service interruptions caused a public relations nightmare for RIM as customers blasted the BlackBerry maker on social networks like Twitter and threatened to nix their device in favor of competitors including Apple's iPhone.
