EAST ST. LOUIS - Cynthia Jiminez of Marion County escaped possible penalties for suing video game developer Epic Games without evidence by dismissing the suit.
They stipulated on June 13 that Jiminez would dismiss with prejudice a claim that Epic Games addicted her grandchild and Epic Games would withdraw a motion for sanctions.
On that date Jiminez dismissed five remaining defendants without prejudice.
U.S. District Judge Stephen McGlynn would have heard argument on sanctions on June 21.
Jiminez sued Epic Games, Microsoft, Google, Nintendo, Roblox, and Mojang Studios for herself and a minor grandchild last November.
Her counsel Tina Bullock, Breean Walas and Danielle Mason of Atlanta alleged that their games reduced control over habits and took priority over other activities.
They claimed addiction resulted in loss of social function and cognitive decline.
They claimed defendants exploited minors to ensure longer play and entice them to spend money on microtransactions.
This April 10, Epic Games counsel Moez Kaba of Los Angeles moved to dismiss the complaint as a sanction for suing without evidence.
He claimed the grandchild created the account last Nov. 11, played Fortnite for less than an hour, and had not used the account since.
He claimed Jiminez stated the child played Fortnite on her father’s account but refused to identify his account.
He claimed Jiminez suggested the child might have played Fortnite on accounts belonging to others but Jiminez could not or would not identify any such account.
Walas responded on April 24 that Epic Games uncovered a factual dispute and not malfeasance or nefarious conduct.
She claimed Jiminez and relatives could attest to the child’s play and behavior since 2016.
She claimed Jiminez witnessed compulsive and addictive use of Fortnite.
“Plaintiffs can prove use through witness testimony and other means," she wrote.
“They are not limited to what Epic Games shows in their records.”
She attached a declaration of Jiminez stating she contacted the Bullock Ward Mason firm after seeing a story on video game addiction on Good Morning America.
Jiminez declared she didn’t create an account in November for the purpose of filing a lawsuit.
Mason withdrew from the action on May 3.
Kaza replied to Walas’s brief on May 8, claiming Jiminez alleged a 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 quoted from the complaint that the child currently plays and is unable to stop.
On May 28 a panel of judges in Washington denied a consolidation petition from Jiminez and plaintiffs in other courts.
The decision preserved McGlynn’s jurisdiction but the parties scratched sanctions from his calendar and dropped the case from his docket.