A Seattle man is suing Amazon.com after the Kindle he purchased for his wife's birthday unexpectedly cracked. The class action suit -- filed in U.S. District Court in Seattle Tuesday -- alleges that Amazon.com failed to disclose that the Kindle breaks when used in conjunction with a leather cover case.

Plaintiff Matthew Geise along with his wife, Alisa Brodkowitz, said they started noticing cracks on the Kindle screen after about three months. The $359 device -- which Geise purchased on Valentine's day -- then froze on July 6. 

The suit lists several complaints from other Kindle users who posted similar issues on chat boards. Wrote one:

“This has happened to me now, too. Unfortunately, Amazon is not being so responsive. First they told me the problem was due to ‘customer use patterns.’ I asked, ‘You mean, like, reading?’ Now they are offering to send me a new kindle for a $200 ‘service fee.’ This is not good. Not good at all.”

The sum value of the matter exceeds $5 million, according to the lawsuit. The suit notes:

Amazon engaged in an unfair or deceptive act or practice by failing to disclose the true nature of the Kindle’s performance when installed in a Kindle Cover, including the inadequacies in manufacturing, design and material composition, the absence of testing to support the warranty, and that the Kindle cracks, breaks, and fails prematurely.

Amazon’s unfair or deceptive acts or practices have occurred in its trade or business, and were and are capable of deceiving a substantial portion of the public.... Amazon’s conduct has injured the property of Plaintiff and the other Class Members, in that these consumers purchased Kindles that either have cracked and failed or will crack and fail prematurely, causing them to use the loose the use and value of their Kindles or expend monies to repair or replace them

Hat tip to The Seattle Times, which reports that the issue revolves around whether the Kindle cover was installed incorrectly. Brodkowitz tells the newspaper that she didn't open the cover incorrectly. Amazon.com could not be reached for comment this morning.

Here's a copy of the lawsuit.

UPDATE: Here's Amazon.com's official response:

"We do not comment on active litigation.  Nevertheless, we encourage anyone who has an issue with the cover attachment mechanism to return the cover and device for a free replacement so we can investigate further."