Charlene Gallion, a resident of San Francisco has filed a lawsuit against Apple claiming the iPhone maker uses “false positive” readings to avoid their warranty obligations reports an article over on information week.

Apple uses liquid contact sensors (moisture sensors) to determine the eligibility of their iPhone for repair under warranty and iPhone, and iPods brought in that are damaged by liquid are not covered by the 1 year warranty of AppleCare Protection Plan.

Apple states that their LCIs are not designed to be triggered by temperature changes or humidity which are within the products environmental requirements.

Gallion’s lawsuit filing disputes this as Gallion had 2 iPhone units stop functioning within 6 months and neither has been damaged by liquid; however when she delivered the first iPhone to an Apple store for repair the rep determined the iPhone had been damaged by liquid. She purchased another iPhone and 6 months later that too stopped working and was again denied warranty due to liquid damage.

The complaint says…”As a result of Apple’s improper application of the Liquid-Damage Exclusion, Apple sells [devices] with the intent to exclude them from the warranty coverage Apple promises consumers it will provide — even when consumers pay extra for Extended Warranty coverage — simply because their Liquid Submersion Indicator has been triggered, without any attempt by Apple to verify whether the Class Devices actually have been damaged as a result of submersion or immersion in liquid.”

Apple as usual where not available to comment either way, anyone else had this problem with being denied their warranty due to liquid damage although the iPhone hadn’t been anywhere near liquid?