According to a court filing, a Mr. John Kiel Patterson filed suit against Apple Computer, Inc. yesterday in San Jose, California federal court.
Patterson’s lawsuit accuses Apple of marketing defective products that damage the hearing of those who use the devices, specifically iPods. Patterson is seeking class action status for his suit. Patterson’s complaint seeks a court order that would require Apple to upgrade the product and compensate victims for hearing loss.
“The IPod players are ‘inherently defective in design and are not sufficiently adorned with adequate warnings regarding the likelihood of hearing loss,” according to the complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., on behalf of John Patterson of Louisiana,” The Associated Press reports. “Patterson does not know if the device has damaged his hearing, said his lawyer, Steve Berman, of Seattle. But that’s beside the point of the lawsuit, which takes issue with the potential the IPod has to cause irreparable hearing loss, Berman said… Apple ships a warning with each IPod that cautions ‘permanent hearing loss may occur if earphones or headphones are used at high volume.’ The company was forced to pull the IPod from store shelves in France and upgrade software on the device to limit sound to 100 decibels, but has not followed suit in the United States, according to the complaint.”
Full article here.
{Update: 9:32pm EST: Added info from Associated Press report with link.]
Advertisements:
• MacBook Pro. The first Mac notebook built upon Intel Core Duo with iLife ’06, Front Row and built-in iSight. Starting at $1999. Free shipping.
• iMac. Twice as amazing — Intel Core Duo, iLife ’06, Front Row media experience, Apple Remote, built-in iSight. Starting at $1299. Free shipping.
• iMac and MacBook Pro owners: Apple USB Modem. Easily connect to the Internet using dial-up service. Only $49.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
Related articles:
Girl gets gift of hearing thanks to cochlear implants, asks for Apple iPod for Christmas – December 23, 2005
Hearing Loss News: iPods can damage your ears – July 11, 2005
Does “I spilled Hot Coffee in my lap and burned myself… I’m suing McDonalds” sound familiar?
Cashing in on the cash cow.
This is so stupid. But everyone is greedy and they will line up to join in the milking of the cow.
I wonder how many milliseconds this case it will take to be tossed out of court.
TURN DOWN THE VOLUME, YOU IDIOT!
Eric: No, because that suit wasn’t frivolous. Read up on it someday.
Yep, since that old bat scalded her crotch with hot coffee, they’ve been coming out of the woodwork. He won’t get a dime.
Someone being listening to their iPod too loud too often?
Buffoon. This is why people in the EU laugh at our sue-happy citizens. They have a concept of “personal responsibilty”.
Hope he spills a nice lapful of hot McDonalds coffee on himself on his way to court.
how, exactly, does this dipstick expect Apple to “upgrade” the iPod? further, this braindead wanker doesn’t know enough to turn down the volume on his iPod, yet he’s considered intelligent enough to vote? the mind boggles…
I shall sue food for being too big because I choked. Who’s with me?!
i’m suing Metallica for hearing loss as a result of all their concerts i’ve attended. how was i supposed to know listening to loud rock music could damage my ears? duhrrrrrrr…
Another example of people in America having no sense of personal responsibility. This culture of victimization has to stop, and the way to do it is the way they do it in other countries where loser pays. The problem is that the law lobby will never allow such legal reforms to happen because they are milking the system for billions.
In the meantime, TURN DOWN THE GDAMN VOLUME YOU FRIGGIN TOOL!.
I’m with you, R! That bastard food has had this coming for a long time.
The case against fast food vendors that said that the food they sell makes people fat, was thrown out of court. This one will be thrown out too.
Ever notice how all these types of BS lawsuits originate in California.
Ha ha ha
Ya know, that spilled coffee thing sounds stupid until you find out the woman got 3rd degree burns and see the picture of her literally cooked skin. That coffee was way too hot.
Nonetheless, if this guy can sue Apple, then everyone can sue anyone that makes any device that has a volume control.
Uh….yeah okay….I suppose I should sue my hearing aid company and my car stereo for degradation of my hearing over the years. It’s a fact of life. Yah, HAD to crank it up…idiot!
And for that matter, Air is complicit in Chronic Dry Eye! Damn evaporation!
Oooooh, Air shall pay for its impudence!
If he’s still using the supplied earbuds, I can see why he has hearing loss. It’s better to use closed-ear headphones.
Also, regarding the coffee case: McDonald’s was, in fact, heating their coffee much more than necessary, to the point where it was about 50F over the accepted limit, if I recall. The woman 2nd degree burns, which should NEVER happen.
This lawsuit will go absolutely nowhere. Trust me…
He then proceeded to file suit agianst his thumb for creating a dangerous environment by manipulating a defective iPod to cause Celine Dion to play at higher the safe decibles.
Yes, he WILL win…
The first thing a lawyer does is research for similar cases (hence, the McDonald’s Coffee case) and use that as leverage to get a win. This guy will win very easily.
After the monies are awarded you’ll see MAY CAUSE HEARING LOSS AT HIGH VOLUME on every iPod case from there on…
This lawsuit is no joke! It happened to me with my car horn. I love to push that darn horn all the time and now I’m going deaf, so I’m suing Toyota.
Screw you from California Jay.
The old lady who sued McDonald’s initially only wanted her medical bills paid for. Which was a reasonable request.
When McDonald’s laughed in her face, she went to a lawyer, not expecting it to be worth her time after legal costs.
The lawyers asked for her medical bills plus a fair amount for pain and suffering. McDonald’s laughed again.
So they sued the motherf-ckers big time. And won.
McDonald’s isn’t laughing now.