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Woman sues Apple claiming iPod touch blew up in her face

Thursday, February 28, 2013 · 3:00 pm · 33 Comments

“Apple was sued by Tina King late on Wednesday [Feb. 20] for $75,000 in a personal injury/ product liability lawsuit,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.

“King alleges that her iPod touch blew up in her face while listening to her music,” Purcher reports. “Her incurred medical costs were claimed to be a whopping $600. That’s right, $600, which is about the cost of a Band-Aid these days at a local hospital or clinic.”

Purcher reports, “Yet that will somehow cost Apple $75,000 if it is found liable. The formal complaint was filed in Eastern Texas. “

Read more in the full article here.

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Categories: News

Tags: Apple, Eastern District of Texas, iPod touch, lawsuit, legal, personal injury, personal injury lawsuit, rocket docket, Tina King

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Comment Feed

33 Comments

R2

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:11 pm · Reply

I’d say it’s time for her to face the music, but it seems she’s already done that.
- Dresden Sparrow
  
  Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:15 pm · Reply
  
  nicely done sir!
- anim8me2
  
  Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 9:44 pm · Reply
  
  I bet she was listening to a blistering guitar solo.
Ballonknot

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:15 pm · Reply

Bet it’s not the only thing that’s blown up in her face. Oh!
- peterblood71
  
  Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 8:32 pm · Reply
  
  I thought only Samsung portable devices were being considered by the military as a pocketable explosive?
iinnsbrucktaos

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:28 pm · Reply

Any lawsuit filed against Apple in the Eastern Texas should be deemed bogus. If she has guts, I dare her to file that lawsuit in North California District Court.
- hoomie
  
  Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 4:46 pm · Reply
  
  You’d better call Saul!
iMaki

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:29 pm · Reply

Oh look! Another liberal victimized by evil capitalism! Probably has all her casinos picked out to spend her loot at and will no doubt sue all of them after losing!
- quiviran
  
  Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:54 pm · Reply
  
  Those Texas casinos are everywhere.
- Buster
  
  Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 8:16 pm · Reply
  
  So why the fsk do you use the term liberal here. To incite hate? She is an asshole plain and simple. May be liberal, may be conservative. God knows both abound with assholes.
  
  Kinda like your statement.
- ConfusedCountry
  
  Friday, March 1, 2013 - 9:47 am · Reply
  
  @iMaki
  
  Actually she is a die hard Republican and her entire family comes from a line of Republicans. Her mother is a member of the Tea Party and the iPod blew up in her face while she was listening to music in the voting machine right after she voted for Mitt Romney.
  
  You need to correct you statement because from the information presented CLEARLY her grandfather was best friends with Mitt Romney’s father. How come you couldn’t figure that out? It’s so obvious that I can’t figure out how you mistakingly thought she was a liberal.
  
  (Also for your information, out of the $600 she paid that day to the hospital, $300 was immediately donated to the Republican Party)
  
  Read the Article again and I am sure you will agree that she CAN’T possibly be a liberal. It’s all in there!
Laughing_Boy48

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:33 pm · Reply

I wondered why Apple stock took another hit today. I’d say one explosion out of 50 million iPhones SHOULD send investors into a share-dumping frenzy. I heard that such a thing could never happen to any Samsung smartphone because they’re perfectly built and cheap enough for a consumer to accept a face job if it did happen.
Gary

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:39 pm · Reply

Someone didn’t know what to do with those little round things that are connect by wire to a headphone jack … Why in hell would you hold a touch to your head to listen to music?
So Appy

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:40 pm · Reply

Oh look! Yet another faceless Apple victim. How’s the cheap third party battery replacements working out?? Ever wonder why Apple insists on sealed, (non user replaceable) battery devices??? /s
russ

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:42 pm · Reply

Not nearly as bad as having zune squirt in your face.
Macintosh Sauce

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 3:46 pm · Reply

Um… So Appy…

Apple allows Newer Technology to make battery replacements for certain MBs, MBPs, iPods, etc. They don’t blow up in people’s faces.
Paul

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 4:36 pm · Reply

Money SHOT!!!
His Shadow

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 5:04 pm · Reply

Gods, people. Components do fail. If her iPod burned her face, she has every right to file for a redress of grievance. The fact that bogus lawsuits get filed everyday doesn’t mean every personal injury lawsuit is bogus.

Which reminds me of the way caustic morons constantly refer to the McDonalds coffee burns lawsuit as some sort of joke. Do some reading. McDonald’s served scalding coffee that caused burns requiring surgery, not some accidental spill that resulted in a dry cleaning bill.
- thethirdshoe
  
  Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 5:10 pm · Reply
  
  If the date in the story is correct, February 22, 2011, it has been 2 (TWO) years since this happened. Does she still have the iPod? Why did she wait two years??
  Really.
- Shadowself
  
  Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 5:48 pm · Reply
  
  Li ion batteries can short.
  Li ion batteries can overheat.
  Li ion batteries can catch fire and outgas in a thermal run away.
  Li ion batteries don’t explode. The thermal and chemical reactions are not fast enough that the case won’t expand and crack and vent long before an explosion occurs. The first indication that this is a BS lawsuit is her claim that it “blew up”. No one with any integrity should support such a claim.
  
  I rank this right up there with the claims of PowerBook 5300 explosions and fires. None were ever proven to be true. Absolutely none. ONE case overheated to the point of smoking and that was all. ONE case out of all the claims of fires and explosions.
  
  The McDonald’s case was coffee that was at the normal serving temperature of freshly brewed coffee. The woman put the cup between her legs as she drove off. A situation caused her to spill the cup between her legs onto herself (onto her crotch). Yes, she was burned. Did she *require* plastic surgery? No. Did some doctor and lawyer (both looking for a buck) tell her she needed plastic surgery? Yes. Should the woman known enough to not hold freshly brewed coffee in her lap between her legs as she drove away? Yes. This was not a teenager buying coffee for a parent. This was a woman in her middle age who was a regular coffee drinker. She knew how hot freshly brewed coffee is. She *chose* to put that hot coffee between her legs as she drove away.
  Should the case have been thrown out? Yes. Was it? No. Did McDonald’s have to pay (with a huge chunk going to the lawyers and doctors)? Yes. Did McDonald’s (and everyone else) start putting warning labels on to their hot drinks (which no one ever reads)? Yes. Did McDonald’s (and everyone else) start brewing coffee at much lower temperatures so this could never happen again? NO!!!! You can’t make a decent flavored coffee at a low, skin safe temperature!
  - Swing Geezer
    
    Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 6:01 pm · Reply
    
    You are wrong about the MacDonalds case. MacDonalds served the coffee at scalding temperatures. They discovered that the extra aroma sold more coffee. The woman had 3rd degree burns. You don’t get that from hot coffee. MacDonalds had settled other similar but not as devastating as this. Further, the injuries were so severe as to have shortened the woman’s life. Thou this will never be proven.
    - Buster
      
      Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 8:21 pm · Reply
      
      Does it matter? The dumb idiot put it between her legs…while driving no less. The state should have tossed her in jail for reckless endangerment. They should have given her another jail term for just being stupid. Knives are sharp, fire burns, poisons should not be ingested….Geez!!!!!
      
      Does anyone know if she was blonde. At least she would have had an excuse
      - Bizlaw
        
        Friday, March 1, 2013 - 12:22 pm · Reply
        
        Yes, it does matter. Try learning the facts of a case before you show off your stupidity. McDonalds had been warned several times about the unnecessarily hot coffee it served, including several people who were seriously burned by it. They served the coffee at near boiling temperatures. They did not warn people that the coffee was scalding hot. Finally, McDonalds very clearly chose profits over customer safety.
        
        Be careful reading or listening to any news report of any court case. Very few journalists have any legal training and very often they completely miss the true issues in the case.
  - Majikthize
    
    Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 7:58 pm · Reply
    
    Well, there’s a difference between hot and scalding. I make my coffee hot. But, I sometimes find take-out coffee WAAAAYYYY too hot, as in ya gotta blow on it for 5 minutes before it’s cool enough to sip hot, as in can’t even hold the cup for more than 5 seconds hot. Putting aside the wisdom of putting super-hot objects in proximity to one’s privates, I do feel that some establishments serve coffee at dangerously, unnecessarily, and inconveniently high temperatures.
  - Cheule
    
    Friday, March 1, 2013 - 12:46 am · Reply
    
    Sorry but you’re completely wrong. You have the woman’s age wrong, what she was doing at the time of the incident wrong, and even the nature of her lawsuit wrong.
    
    It’s really easy to locate the information about that case too http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liebeck_v._McDonald's_Restaurants#section_2
    
    Perhaps you should do a google search before you spout off about things you don’t really know.
    
    Here’s my favorite part if the real story: the 79 year old woman spent 2 years in and out of medical treatment because of burns over 16% of her body due to McDonald’s gross negligence with the coffee temperature. Even after 2 year of this, she only sought to cover her medical expenses (about $10,000). And McDonald’s told her to pound sand. THAT’s why the jury awarded almost $3M in punitive damages. Because McDonald’s was way out of line.
    - ConfusedCountry
      
      Friday, March 1, 2013 - 4:54 pm · Reply
      
      @Cheule
      
      Thanks for sharing this information, I didn’t know that. Often I ignorantly blame the woman but with the information you provided I feel differently about the case. In fact because of you I have completely changed sides and I feel completely outraged at McDonalds.
      
      If you ever wonder if comments on a site such as this have an impact, well it does. You just changed my mind.
      
      Thanks.
- j.eric
  
  Friday, March 1, 2013 - 1:14 am · Reply
  
  if memory serves, the jokes arose from the fact she was driving with an obviously hot cup of coffee between her thighs. As gross as that image is to a sane mind, she was equally grossly overcompensated by the jury. i would be shocked to discover that she has any of the award money left.
  
  why did this woman wait for an entire year to file her lawsuit? did it take that long for her attorney to depose her or did it take that long to find an attorney venal enough to take the case?
Now, Now...

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 5:06 pm · Reply

Try the case in ‘The People’s Court’! Would love to see Judge Judy expose her ignorance.
TowerTone

Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 5:54 pm · Reply

She was holding it wrong….
- burned and spurned
  
  Thursday, February 28, 2013 - 8:06 pm · Reply
  
  she always holds it wrong
- The Other Steve
  
  Friday, March 1, 2013 - 12:48 am · Reply
  
  That’s what he said.
The Other Steve

Friday, March 1, 2013 - 12:49 am · Reply

Must have been using that new face palm app.

. . . sorry, all the good ones were already taken.
Quint

Friday, March 1, 2013 - 9:33 am · Reply

This is what happens when it’s turned up to 11…