PITTSBURGH – A man who filed a federal class action lawsuit against the designer and installer of security and surveillance equipment in claiming a common “master code” can be used to turn off all of the same types of systems, has seen that suit dismissed.

On Jan. 16, U.S. District Court Judge Mark R. Hornak dismissed the case with prejudice and with each party bearing its own costs.

Plaintiff Paul Bergad of Freeport, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated, initially filed the suit on Sept. 25 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, against defendant 2Krew Security & Surveillance, of Kittanning.

According to the suit, the defendant marketed and sold a security system to the plaintiff.

“The systems were defective in design and manufacture, insofar that the 'master code' that turned off each system was common to all the systems that defendant sold, and thus, any system sold by defendant was susceptible to a breach by any person with the same system,” the complaint stated.

The plaintiff also alleged that 2Krew misled and concealed information from consumers who purchased the security products regarding the fact that all the systems have the same master code, which affects the system’s level of security.

Prior to dismissal and for counts of violation of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law, breach of implied warranty, breach of express warranty, negligent misrepresentation, the plaintiff sought compensatory damages, costs as well as pre- and post-judgment interest, attorney’s fees and such other and further relief as the Court may have deemed just and proper.

The plaintiffs were represented by D. Aaron Rihn and Scott M. Simon of Robert Peirce & Associates, in Pittsburgh.

The defendant was represented by Andrew T. Tillapaugh, Ember K. Holmes and Nancy R. Winschel of Dickie McCamey & Chilcote, also in Pittsburgh.

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U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania case 2:19-cv-01228

From the Pennsylvania Record: Reach Courts Reporter Nicholas Malfitano at nick.malfitano@therecordinc.com