Apple has been hit with a strange situation this month where deleted content has returned or remained on various iDevices. As was the case when a supposedly deleted photo resurfaced due to a bug, a divorced man discovered that deleting iPhone messages may not be enough.

iMore reported that the ex-husband used iMessage on his iPhone to arrange to meet a woman for the evening. He later deleted the messages as evidence.

Unfortunately for him, his wife opened iMessage on the family iMac and discovered all the texts he had sent going back several years. Unsurprisingly, his wife filed for divorce shortly thereafter.

In response, the divorced man is now suing Apple for €5 million in damages, including legal fees, money lost in the divorce, and emotional damages. He told the Times, "If they tell me a message has been deleted, I have the right to believe it has been deleted."

Presumably because the divorce was still caused by his infidelity, the man is now taking medication to control panic attacks.

Rosenblatt, a London law firm hired by the man, is trying to make the case a class action.

Admittedly, the man's infidelity is a problem in and of itself, but the mistake here may come down to how his account was set up.

The man may not have had iCloud linked to one of his devices; Apple's support documentation states, "If you are using iCloud Messages and delete a message or conversation on your Mac, it will be turned on they will be deleted from all devices."

Perhaps he did not link the accounts to hide the affair.

If iCloud is not linked, deleting messages will only delete them from the local device he is using. Therefore, the messages just disappeared from his iPhone, but the iMac retained everything.

Also, as discovered with the photo bug, Apple retains deleted content for up to 30 days, and it can be restored within that period. However, that does not necessarily explain why messages and photos from years ago reappeared or were apparently not deleted.

In the Times article, the man's lawyer said, "In many cases, the iPhone notifies the user that messages have been deleted, but as we have seen, that is not true and is misleading because they can still be found on other linked devices.

Strictly speaking, the company is informing users of this information because Apple clearly states it in its support documentation. They just need to look for it.

Apple has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.