EAST ST. LOUIS - Three lawyers for a Marion County grandmother who claims video games addicted her grandchild denied misconduct and one of them withdrew nine days later.
All three lawyers denied on April 24 that plaintiff Cynthia Jiminez fabricated her claim against six video game companies.
Danielle Mason of Bullock Ward Mason in Atlanta withdrew on May 3, leaving Tina Bullock and Breean Walas of the same firm to pursue the claim.
Jiminez sued Microsoft, Google, Nintendo, Epic Games, Roblox, and Mojang Studios in U.S. district court last November.
She claimed video games reduce control over habits and take priority over other activities.
She claimed addiction resulted in loss of social function and cognitive decline.
She added that defendants exploited minors to ensure longer play and entice them to spend money on microtransactions.
On April 10, Epic Games counsel Moez Kaba of Los Angeles moved to dismiss the complaint as a sanction for suing without evidence.
Kaba claimed Epic’s records reflected that the grandchild created the account on Nov. 11, played Fortnite for less than an hour, and had not used the account since.
He claimed Epic tried to determine whether the child created other Epic accounts and none of the efforts unearthed an account the child created or used.
He wrote that Jiminez claimed the child played Fortnite on the account of the child’s father but refused to identify his account.
Jiminez allegedly suggested the child might have played Fortnite on accounts belonging to others but she could not or would not identify any such account.
Walas responded on April 24 that counsel made a reasonable inquiry into Jiminez’s allegations and determined they could be supported by discoverable information.
She claimed Jiminiez answered a questionnaire containing more than 55 questions.
She added that Jiminez confirmed in conversations that she and relatives could attest to the child’s play and behavior since 2016.
Wales claimed Jiminez personally witnessed the child’s compulsive and addictive use of Fortnite.
“Plaintiffs can prove use through witness testimony and other means. They are not limited to what Epic Games shows in their records,” she wrote.
Wales claimed a fact finder could infer that the child’s previous extensive use of Fortnite was evidence of addiction, “since it is common knowledge that addicts can be triggered to return to a certain gateway drug.”
She claimed the allegations were far from falsity and wrote, “If anything it is inartful pleading for which sanctions are not proper.”
“Epic Games has uncovered a factual dispute to be resolved by the fact finder. It has not uncovered malfeasance or nefarious conduct by plaintiffs or their counsel,” she wrote.
She attached a declaration from Jiminez stating she contacted Bullock Ward Mason after seeing a story on video game addiction on Good Morning America.
Jiminez stated an accusation that she was involved in falsification wasn’t true and she didn’t create an account in November for the purpose of filing a lawsuit.
On May 3, Mason withdrew.
Kaza replied to the opposition brief on May 8, claiming Jiminez alleged a gateway drug theory that playing Fortnite years ago established addiction today.
“Whatever the merits of this new theory, it appears nowhere in the complaint,” he wrote.
He claimed the complaint alleged the opposite, that the child currently plays the game and is unable to stop.
District Judge Stephen McGlynn presides.