Class-Action Lawsuit Hits Fitbit After Reports of Severe Rashes from Using the Force
posted Sunday Mar 23, 2014 by Nicholas DiMeo
Fitbit has had some experience being on the receiving side of a lawsuit in the past. However, after its voluntary recall earlier this month of the Fitbit Force, a class-action lawsuit has now been filed.
Earlier this week the lawsuit was filed with the Superior Court of California in San Diego county. In it, the class-action filing says that Fitbit's promotional and marketing campaign deceived customers. Customers were not made aware that rashes could be caused by using the Force.
Aviation teacher Jim Spivey has headed up the lawsuit. Interestingly enough, Spivey has never even had a reaction to the Force but he feels that Fitbit didn't do a good enough job of informing customers. "I have a concern that there is still a risk of developing an injury for me and others," he said. To that point, 9,900 have reported some sort of rash or other irritation from using the Force. It should also be noted that 250 people indicated they experienced blisters. All in, that's only 1.7 percent of the total Force owners out in the sea of 1 million US and 28,000 Canadian devices currently being recalled.
The lawsuit goes on to describe out the way Fitbit should tell all Force customers in the state of California about the voluntary recall, why the irritation is happening and how to get a refund for the wristband. Lead attorney for the lawsuit John Fiske said,
We are asking for full disclosure of the dangerous aspects of the product and a full disclosure of why it's causing these injuries.
Now, if you recall back to my article on the news earlier this month, CEO James Park already wrote a letter and has put up a full, dedicated website on the matter. Because of that, a representative from Fitbit spoke about the lawsuit, saying that,
Based on our initial review of the lawsuit, the complaint asks for a recall of Force and a refund to consumers. Fitbit took initiative long before this complaint was filed, publicly offered refunds, and worked closely with the CPSC on its voluntary recall program. We strongly disagree with the statements about the product and the Company.
So, from Fitbit's standpoint, the company has already done the things requested by the lawsuit, which also goes along with common sense when you discover issues like this. From the lawsuit's standpoint, it feels a little like the people involved are just seeking monetary damages, as usual with these type of cases. But McDonald's now has to label hot coffee as hot, and BMW has to state that you shouldn't turn into a lake even if your GPS says so, as they both lost similar common sense cases like this. My guess is that the same thing will happen here and Fitbit will have to say that "metal might give you rashes if you are allergic to metal." Not everyone is Fit to use the Force.