1 November 2024. A class action lawsuit has been filed against Apple Inc. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging false advertising related to audio defects in the first-generation AirPods Pro. The lawsuit claims that despite numerous consumer complaints about sound issues shortly after the product’s release in October 2019, and despite Apple’s knowledge and admission of the existence of these sound issues, Apple continued to promote and sell its AirPods Pro Gen 1 as capable of providing superior sound quality and noise cancellation.
Three plaintiffs from Pennsylvania, Texas, and Ohio are represented by Tycko & Zavareei LLP and Dworken & Bernstein Co. LPA. They allege that Apple sold them expensive high-end headphones with purported noise-cancelling ability that, in fact, had an audio defect that Apple knew about and admitted to, which included crackling or static “sound issues.” According to the lawsuit, Plaintiffs and a nationwide class of similarly situated affected consumers overpaid for Apple’s AirPods Gen 1 headphones because the headphones contained a known defect, that Apple only admitted to these defects on an obscure support page and did not provide remuneration to its customers.
Andrea R. Gold, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, stated, “We look forward to pursuing this case on behalf of the millions of consumers who overpaid for AirPods that we allege Apple knew were defective.” In addition to Ms. Gold, the attorneys representing the plaintiffs include Annick M. Persinger, Anna C. Haac, and Em Feder Cooper from TZ, as well as Frank Bartela and Patrick Brickman of Dworken & Bernstein Co. LPA.
The case is Lindsey LaBella et al. v. Apple Inc., No. 5:24-cv-07588, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California.