Western Digital Defective RED NAS Hard Drives $375K Class Action Settlement

Western Digital has agreed to a $375,000 class action lawsuit settlement to resolve claims its RED NAS hard drives are defective due to a manufacturing process.

The settlement benefits Canadian consumers who purchased certain Western Digital RED NAS hard drives between Feb. 15, 2019, and April 22, 2020. Affected model numbers are WD20EFAX, WD30EFAX, WD40EFAX, and WD60EFAX. 

Western Digital is a computer technology company which primarily sells storage devices such as hard drives, solid state drives, SD cards, and more. The company’s RED NAS hard drives are advertised as specially built drives designed to be compatible with NAS, or network attached storage, systems and Redundant Array of Independent Discs (RAID) arrays.

But according to legal action against Western Digital, RED NAS hard drives fail to perform as promised in NAS and RAID systems.

Both NAS devices and RAID arrays are specialized storage systems designed to improve access to data while also backing up a hard drive in case of failure. Plaintiffs in the Western Digital class action lawsuit contend they and other consumers purchased RED NAS hard drives based on promises that these drives would work with NAS or RAID systems. 

However, due to a manufacturing process used by Western Digital, consumers were allegedly denied the benefits they paid for.

According to plaintiffs in the hard drive class action lawsuit, Western Digital uses shingled magnetic recording — a specialized method for building a disc drive — when manufacturing its RED NAS drives. Although this technique helps lower the cost of manufacturing and increase the density of stored data, shingled magnetic recording allegedly interferes with hard drive usage in NAS devices and RAID arrays.

The hard drive class action lawsuit maintains Western Digital knew or should have known using shingled magnetic recording would interfere with RED NAS drives. Instead of warning customers its hard drives would not work as intended, Western Digital allegedly made false promises in order to charge a premium price for RED NAS hard drives.

Western Digital hasn’t admitted any wrongdoing in the case but agreed to resolve these allegations with a class action settlement worth $375,000.

Under the terms of the settlement, Class Members who purchased eligible RED NAS hard drives are eligible for a cash payment. 

Payment amounts will vary depending on the size of purchased hard drives; Class Members with 2 TB and 3 TB hard drives are eligible to receive $6 for each hard drive purchased, while those with 4 TB and 6 TB hard drives are eligible for a payment of $9 for each hard drive purchased.

The deadline for exclusion in the Western Digital settlement has passed. 

The settlement was granted final approval Jan. 25, 2022.

In order to receive payments from the settlement, Class Members must submit a valid claim form by April 18, 2022.

Who’s Eligible

The settlement benefits Canadian consumers who purchased certain Western Digital RED NAS hard drives between Feb. 15, 2019 and April 22, 2020. Affected model numbers are WD20EFAX, WD30EFAX, WD40EFAX, and WD60EFAX.

Potential Award

Varies

Proof of Purchase

The Serial Number for the Device purchase(s) or the Receipt(s) for the Device purchase(s).

Claim Form

NOTE: If you do not qualify for this settlement do NOT file a claim.

Remember: you are submitting your claim under penalty of perjury. You are also harming other eligible Class Members by submitting a fraudulent claim. If you’re unsure if you qualify, please read the FAQ section of the Settlement Administrator’s website to ensure you meet all standards (Top Class Actions is not a Settlement Administrator). If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other open class action settlements you may be eligible for.

Claim Form Deadline

04/18/2022

Case Name

Sheldon Irving v. Western Digital Corporation and Western Digital Canada Corporation, Case No. S-205402, in the Supreme Court of British Columbia for the Vancouver Registry

Final Hearing

01/25/2022

Settlement Website

WesternDigitalClassAction.ca

Claims Administrator

Class Counsel

Saro Turner
SLATER VECCHIO

Defense Counsel

Andrew Borrell
Alexandra Mitretodis
FASKEN MARTINEAU DUMOULIN LLP