Apple sued after iPod explodes in kid’s pocket

Apple is being sued after an iPod touch music player “exploded” in a child’s pocket. The lawsuit, which has been filed with a court in Ohio, accuses Apple of “gross negligence and recklessness” and of behaving “maliciously and fraudulently”.

The legal action has been bought by Lynette Antrobus from Cincinnati, who claims that her son’s iPod touch music player spontaneously combusted in his trouser pocket while he was at school on December 4 last year.

Documents filed states that the boy heard an “unexpected pop” from the device, which was switched off, followed by a “burning sensation” and the swift realisation that his “pants” had caught fire.

“Plaintiff AV ran to the bathroom and took off his burning pants with the assistance of a friend,” the document reads. “[The iPod touch] had burned through Plaintiff AV’s pants pocket and melted through his nylon/spandex underwear, burning his leg.”

Antrobus is claiming $75,000 plus punitive damage from Apple on behalf of her son for the second degree burns allegedly inflicted by the iPod touch. The battery inside the iPod touch is believed to be the source of the alleged explosion. The plaintiff’s mother said that she and her son had not been warned of the potential injury that could be caused by the device.