EAST ST. LOUIS - Marion County parent Cynthia Jiminez sued Epic Games for addicting her child to video game Fortnite three days after the child created an account, Epic Games claims at U.S. district court.
Moez Kaba of Los Angeles moved to dismiss claims against Epic Games on April 10 as a sanction for pursuing a frivolous claim.
“Epic’s records reflect that on the day the account was created, it was used to play Fortnite for less than an hour and has not been used since,” he wrote.
Tina Bullock and Breean Walas of Georgia and Danielle Mason of Alabama represent Jiminez, who sued Microsoft, Google, Epic and other game providers on Nov. 14.
They claimed video games reduce control over habits and take priority over other activities.
They claimed addiction results in physical and financial harm, loss of social function and cognitive decline.
They also claimed defendants exploited minors and young adults to ensure longer play and entice them to spend money on microtransactions.
After the plaintiffs sued, Kaba wrote that they sent a letter asking Epic to preserve documents and information relating to the child’s account.
Kaba claimed the letter provided information so Epic could identify the account, including the email the child used to play Fortnite.
Epic’s records allegedly reflected creation of an account on Nov. 11.
Kaba claimed the account was used that day by a Nintendo Switch device to play Fortnite.
He claimed the location associated with the Internet protocol address was consistent with Marion County.
He claimed that before and after Epic received the preservation letter, it tried to determine whether the child created other Epic Games accounts.
He added that none of the efforts unearthed an account the child created or used.
Epic allegedly outlined the facts by letter to Bullock, Walas and Mason on Feb. 12
The plaintiffs responded on March 1 that Jiminez was confident of the ability to provide proof of the child playing Fortnite.
Kaba claimed they didn’t deny the facts Epic outlined, offer information that might identify other accounts or request preservation of any accounts.
The parties conferred on March 26.
Kaba wrote that Bullock, Walas and Mason claimed the child played Fortnite on the child's father’s account but refused to identify him or his Epic Games account.
He wrote that they suggested the child might have played Fortnite on accounts belonging to others but could not or would not identify any such account.
In addition to dismissal, he claimed monetary sanctions should be imposed.
District Judge Stephen McGlynn presides.