Syracuse Lawyer Wants Apple to Face the Music

By Tim Krauss
Staff Writer
Syracuse Post-Standard

Syracuse, New York, August 5, 2004: On behalf of consumers, attorney James Snyder of Syracuse is doing battle against one of the most popular consumer products to come along in years: the iPod.

The digital music player might have won over millions of fans, but it has a serious flaw about which manufacturer Apple Computer never warned consumers, Snyder said. The iPod’s rechargeable lithium polymer battery, sealed up inside the sleek music player and difficult to replace, sometimes dies within 12 to 18 months, Snyder said.

The issue has spawned several class-action lawsuits in California. Now, after locating an aggrieved consumer in Westchester County, Snyder has filed a lawsuit on behalf of New York iPod owners.

Snyder and his client, Shannon Mosley, 20, of Mamaroneck, allege that Apple perpetrated a “systemic statewide consumer fraud” by selling iPods at about $400 apiece without warning consumers that the batteries might die within 18 months and that they cannot be replaced without major expense.

“That’s just not right,” Snyder said.

The difficulty of replacing iPod batteries started attracting national attention in December, when a 22-year-old New York City artist and iPodder named Casey Neistat took his complaint against Apple to the Internet.

Neistat and his brother recorded Neistat’s call to Apple’s customer service line. A representative coldly explained that it would cost $255 plus shipping, to refurbish Neistat’s dead, 18-month-old iPod, and that the best option when faced with a dead battery is simply to buy a new iPod.

The Neistat brothers used the recording as a soundtrack for a short film, which shows Neistat spray painting a warning on iPod posters: iPod’s unreplaceable battery lasts only 18 months.”

The film can be seen at www.ipodsdirtysecret.com.

Apple has since launched a cheaper battery replacement program. Consumers can mail their iPod to Apple for a $99 battery replacement. Apple also introduced an extended two-year-warranty program, which covers the battery, that costs $59 at the time of purchase.

Those efforts are insufficient, Snyder said.

Apple officials declined to comment, citing the lawsuit.

So how does a Syracuse lawyer end up representing an iPodder in Westchester County?

He goes looking, that’s how.

After reading about consumer complaints over the batteries, and then about lawsuits filed in California, Snyder cast about for aggrieved consumers. He advertised in June in the Syracuse New Times.

Ultimately, he connected with Mosley, a college student who lives with her parents. Mosley was referred to Snyder by a mutual acquaintance, he said.

“I think she’s probably very typical,” Snyder said. “Young people are attracted to buying these things. They don’t have a lot of money. They’re students. They’re working—she’s working a couple of jobs. The spend a lot of money (on an iPod), and then they’re stuck.”

Mosley’s lawsuit, filed in state Supreme Court in Westchester County, has been moved at Apple’s request to U.S. District Court for the Southern District. Snyder said he has not decided whether to challenge the move or to leave the suit in federal court.

Snyder has sought class-action status for the lawsuit. If a judge agrees, that means any New York consumer who bought an iPod before the suit was filed on June 23 could be affected by the outcome.

Generally, defendants in class-action suits are required to advertise or otherwise contact affected consumers to inform them of any settlement or judgment obtained for the class, Snyder said.

Class-action status is also critical to Snyder’s chances to make money from the case. Lawyer fees in class-action suits, which must be approved by a judge, usually reflect a percentage of plaintiffs’ recovery.

A recent study of class-action cases by law professors Theodore Eisenberg of Cornell University and Geoffrey Miller of New York University found that from 1993 to 2002, lawyer fees averaged 22 percent of the amount recovered for plaintiffs.

It could take several months for a judge to decide whether to certify Mosley’s lawsuit as a class action.

In the meantime, Snyder said, he is interested in hearing from any consumers with complaints about their iPod batteries at his office, 492-9665.

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