A Texas couple has sued Apple and the manufacturer of the AirPods, claiming that the firms are to blame for their son’s hearing loss.
“We don’t want anybody to experience this terrible accident,” Ariani Reyes, the 14-year-old’s mother, said in a statement. “It shouldn’t happen. They haven’t fixed that problem with loud noises and alerts.”
In a lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Northern California, Carlos Gordoa and Ariani Reyes claimed that their son, B.G., suffered significant ear damage since the AirPods “failed to automatically reduce or limit notification and/or alert volumes.”
According to the lawsuit, Apple engaged in gross negligence fraud.
“This is an action for personal injuries after defective AirPods worn by B.G. in his right ear produced ear-shattering sound levels that ripped open B.G.’s right eardrum and damaged his cochlea during an Amber Alert notification, causing B.G. to suffer from tinnitus, significant and permanent hearing loss, other temporary or permanent injuries, pain, suffering, and disabilities leading to the loss of the pleasures of life,” lawsuit states.
Reyes claims her son was streaming on Netflix on his iPhone, which was connected to the earbuds at a low volume, during a 2020 car trip when an Amber Alert went off. The loudness “tore apart” his eardrum and compromised his hearing, according to the complaint.
As a result, he has experienced dizziness, vertigo, and nausea. According to the lawsuit, the hearing loss is still there.
She claimed that he was a soccer player and the injury had harmed him.
“We are very sad, frustrated, and a little bit angry,” said Reyes in a statement. “Because he was just a regular, healthy, athletic boy, and his life has changed.”
“This boy’s life has been severely altered because Apple did not provide a warning about the volume levels of its?AirPods, leading to his permanent hearing loss,” Tej Paranjpe, one of the lawyers for the family, said in a statement.
“Had Apple designed the AirPods to self-adjust to safe levels or provided warnings about the volume increases associated with alerts, this boy would be living a normal life.”?
The lawsuit also cites multiple online discussions in which consumers complain about the AirPod Pro’s loud notifications.
Apple has not commented on the case or the massive complaints.