A Texas couple is suing Apple as they allege their 12-year-old son suffered “permanent hearing loss” after an amber alert produced an “ear shattering sound” while he was wearing AirPods. The sound was so loud that their 12 years old son suffered permanent hearing loss and it tore one of his eardrums.
What Happened?
The incident happened in May 2020. The boy, now 14, identified in the lawsuit as B.G., was using his AirPods Pro to watch Netflix when an Amber Alert came through, mentions the suit.
Carlos Gordoa and Ariani Reyes of San Antonio filed the suit last Monday, against Apple.
As per claims made by the suit, B.G. was watching Netflix on a “low volume” when the alert came through. It “went off suddenly, and without warning, at a volume that tore apart B.G.’s eardrum, damaged his cochlea, and caused significant injuries to B.G.’s hearing.”
Effect
“As a result of the damage to his right ear, B.G. has suffered from bouts of dizziness, vertigo, and nausea, permanent hearing loss in his right ear, and other permanent injuries,” the suit says. It also includes examples of online customer complaints regarding the volume on AirPods.
Parents said B.G. will have to wear a hearing aid for the rest of his life due to the injury. He will also need consistent clinical attention.
“The AirPods, when, inserted as per the stated fitting instructions, an unreasonably dangerous environment is created in the ear unbeknownst to the user,” the suit added. “Sudden increases in sound volumes linking to notifications or alerts aren’t properly equalized, limited, controlled, incremented, or reduced, thereby posing an unreasonable or serious risk to the wearer’s hearing and health.”
The parents are suing Apple for $75,000 in damages. The claims are that the AirPods purchased in November 2019 were defective. They were defective in their design and manufacturing. There were no instructions on how to change the volume of certain sounds.
The lawsuit also claims that Apple was aware of the defect but chose not to fix it.