A new class action lawsuit accuses Roku and TTE Technology, which does business as TCL North America, of selling televisions that some consumers say have been rendered unusable by defective software updates. The complaint was filed by Terri Else, who says the problems have left some Roku TV products blacked out, inoperable or badly degraded.
Else wants to represent a nationwide class and a California subclass of people who bought Roku TV products made by Roku or TCL from Dec. 16, 2024, to the present. The proposed class covers Roku Select Series, Roku Plus Series and TCL 3/4/5/6 Series Roku TVs, and the suit asks for a jury trial along with declaratory and injunctive relief, actual and statutory damages, and restitution.
The lawsuit says Roku's software updates are repeatedly defective and materially impair the function of its products. It claims the defects corrupt the user experience to the point of inoperability and argues that Roku and TCL knew they were selling televisions with software defects while failing to disclose them before purchase.
According to the complaint, the companies' platform cuts corners by failing to make sure software updates are free of defects during testing and at scale. Else says that leaves many consumers with televisions that are either entirely unusable or substantially degraded, even as the devices continue to receive automatic updates.
The case also says Roku marketed its televisions as reliable smart TVs designed to keep getting better over time through ongoing automatic software updates. Else says that promise clashes with the way the products have behaved in the real world, and with express warranties that promise to repair, correct or otherwise remediate the software defect.
The complaint says consumers have lodged persistent complaints about repeated system failures and that the defendants offer no recourse despite those reports. It accuses Roku and TCL of breach of express and implied warranties, as well as violations of California's Unfair Competition Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act.
The lawsuit, Else v. Roku, Inc., et al., Case No. 8:26-cv-00748, is pending in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. Else is represented by Helen I. Zeldes, Susan G. Taylor and Summer Wright of Schonbrun Seplow Harris Hoffman & Zeldes LLP.
The filing lands as Roku faces another class action alleging it removed a key feature from its Smart Home Cameras and pushed customers into a subscription to regain access. Together, the cases put the company's software-driven business model under closer legal pressure than it is likely to welcome.
