Consumers started complaining shortly after Nanos started appearing on store shelves, saying screens on the credit card-sized players were overly susceptible to scratches. Apple blamed the problems on vendor quality control and said the problem affected less than one-tenth of 1 percent of the Nanos sold at that time.

Apparently that explanation wasn’t enough for some people.

Filed in San Jose, Calif., the proposed class action lawsuit claims that the iPod Nano is “defectively designed, allowing the screen to quickly become scratched with normal use.” The suit goes on to claim that Apple advertised the Nano as being “impossibly small and durable,” but in trying to make the Nano as small as possible, Apple compromised the player’s quality.

The lawsuit also describes the problems that plaintiff Jason Tomczak had with the Nano, saying he used the device as advertised but, within days after his purchase, the screen became so scratched and marred that he was unable to see the display. It is the suit’s contention that Apple ignored the screen problems as it was preparing to unveil the Nano.

“We intend to prove that in an effort to rush the iPod Nano to the market, Apple ignored obvious defects in the design and later tried to cover up negative responses received from consumers,” Steve Berman, a member of the law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro, said in announcing the proposed suit. “We seek to recover money lost in purchasing this product as well as the $25 fee Apple has chosen to impose on those who have returned their product after it became unusable.”

The suit also states that Apple has “failed to remedy the problem in any meaningful way” and claims the company deleted postings on its Web site referring to the scratching problem.

Right now the lawsuit exists as a proposed class action lawsuit, and it will take a judge’s ruling to turn it into a living, breathing class action event. So far, Apple has yet to comment.