A pair of Texas parents are suing Apple over their son's hearing loss, which they say was caused by Amber Alerts on the company's AirPods earbuds.
Carlos Gordoa and Ariani Reyes said their son, identified as B.G. In a lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court in Northern California, the AirPods failed to reduce or limit notification and alert volumes. This is an action for personal injuries after defective AirPods worn by B.G. In his right ear, the ear shattering sound levels that ripped open B.G. produced by ear shattering sound levels. B.G.'s right ear drum damaged his cochlea during an Amber Alert notification. The suit states that a person with tinnitus, significant and permanent hearing loss, other temporary or permanent injuries, pain, suffering and disabilities can lead to the loss of the pleasures of life.
On May 17, 2020, the son was watching Netflix on his iPhone, which was connected to the earbuds at a low volume when an Amber Alert went off. The complaint said the sound tore apart his eardrum and damaged his hearing.
He has suffered from dizziness, vertigo, and nausea. The lawsuit states that hearing loss continues to be a problem.
Reyes made a video statement saying that we are very sad, frustrated and angry. Because he was a regular, healthy, athletic boy, his life has changed. She said he was a soccer player and that the injury has negatively impacted him.
The 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 from PMR, one of the lawyers for the family said in a statement to Fox San Francisco. Had Apple designed the AirPods to self-adjust to safe levels, or provide warnings about the volume increases associated with alerts, this boy would be living a normal life. FOX Business reached out to Apple for a response.