Motorola sued over potential Bluetooth hearing loss

A California man is suing Motorola, claiming that it failed to warn consumers that using its Bluetooth headsets at high volume for long periods of time could be dangerous.

Martin Alpert filed a suit seeking class action status earlier this month. According to reports from Crain's and others, the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, alleges that Motorola had "actual and constructive knowledge" that its headsets "posed a serious risk of harm to consumers from noise-indiced hearing loss during the headsets' normal and intended use." The complaint states that Alpert "suffered injury," as a result of Motorola's "conduct," but it does not detail the nature of the damages.

Apparently, listening to anything above 85 decibels for longer than eight hours is bad for your hearing. At full volume, Motorola's H700 headset was tested at 82 to 106 decibels, according to a study by the American Speech-Hearing-Language Association cited in the suit. The lawsuit also contends that there's no way for consumers to easily tell exactly how many decibles are pumping out of the headset, so Motorola should stop selling 12 Bluetooth models until there is.

The HS830, H3, H300, H500, H605, H700, HS805, HS815, HS820, HS850, HT820 and N136 are advertised with promises of long talk time, the complaint says, without any accompanying indication that when turned up to full volume, using them for 10 hours at a time is a health hazard.

Mr. Alpert wants the money back that he spent on his headset, a warning label, and a noise meter to ensure this never happens to anyone. Maybe he really does have the good of consumers in mind. Or maybe he's just another one of those sue-happy Americans.

(Photo: Motorola)

[Matt640123]

This guy is a moron

if this guy didnt know that listening to loud sounds for long periods of time will damage your hearing, he must be living under a rock. It's common sense. Why would someone even listen to your headset full blast for 10 hours anyways???
I really hope his case gets dismissed.

[CyberCapitalist]

Volume Control?

Doesn't this guy understand the concept of volume control? Some people can hear better then others and in some situations full volume is necessary because of ambient noise, but not in appropriate situations for phone conversations, like your car or your office. Was he trying to use his headset at a rock concert? The information is not clear.

If he was really concerned about his own hearing he would turn the volume down, but this guy may not be tech savvy as most people. I mean it is hard to understand what the up arrow and down arrow really do; they could force you into alternate realities or even raise and lower your cholesterol. No one really knows...

At least he isn't suing to get the volume restricted like the iPod case. He could go the McDonalds route and require a warning label on every headset that says ?caution: audio output may be loud?, sue for millions in compensation for hearing loss and distress, and become a recluse for the rest of his life.

People like this are parasites that like to live off others (including businesses).

But I don't know which is worse: the fact that people like this exist and bring these cases to court wasting the time and money of the legal system or that those people can actually win these cases.

It's scary... and sad.

[PhillyBoy919]

This joker is an idiot...

I have an H700 and HS850 and there is NO WAY that either is loud enough to cause hearing damage. I even have trouble hearing either one over my cars engine when accelerating. And, if by some miracle, this dude gets these headsets as loud as they can supposedly get, you mean to tell me that anyone competent enough to conduct 10 hours worth of business over the phone is so unbelievably stupid that he wouldn't realize something blaring in his ear for that amount of time could be harmful? This law suit is a complete and total disgrace and a perfect example of the frivolous law suits clogging our court systems. People like this make me sick.

[alrodlop]

How stupid can you get?