Fitbit Smartwatches Overheating and Burns Class Action

Google, LLC announced its purchase of Fitbit in October 2019. This class action brings suit against it for defects in a variety of Fitbit smartwatches. The complaint alleges they overheat, can burn wearers, and may even explode. The complaint therefore claims that the smartwatches are not suitable for their principal and intended purpose.

A number of classes have been defined for this action:

The Multi-State Consumer Class is all persons in California, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Washington who bought the products.

Similarly defined are a California Class, Pennsylvania Class, and Nationwide Class.

The complaint alleges that the Fitbit smartwatches at issue “are made with a design defect that causes the Products to overheat and poses a significant hazard for burs and fires…” These have been sold throughout the US, the complaint alleges, at a price of between $100 and $350 per unit. According to the complaint, in some cases, when their batteries have overheated, the smartwatches have even exploded.

On March 2, 2022, Google recalled the Fitbit Ionic smartwatch, in conjunction with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). The complaint charges, “Prior to the March 2022 Recall of the Fitbit Ionic, [Google] has never admitted that the Defect existed.”

In fact, the Ionic has not been made since 2020 and has not been sold since 2021. But the complaint alleges that numerous other Fitbit smartwatches have the same defect.

The complaint points out, “The FAA prohibits passengers from traveling with damaged or recalled batteries.” It quotes an FAA notice as saying, “If you are affected by this smartwatch recall, please follow instructions from @Fitbit on returns or disposal. Passengers: Do not wear, carry or check items affected by this recall when traveling by air…”

However, the complaint alleges other Fitbit Smartwatches have the same problem. Reproduced throughout the complaint are postings from various websites complaining about other Fitbit smartwatches, some accompanied by photos of burns on wrists or other parts of bodies.

The complaint alleges that the company denies that there is any problem with the other smartwatches and may even blame the problem on the users’ hygiene.

According to the complaint, even the company’s Fitbit recall is inadequate in many ways, including “[f]orcing consumers to use multiple third party platforms—that each have additional, onerous terms and confusing procedures…” and failing to provide prompt compensation.

The products at issue include the following, and any other Fitbit products that are similarly defective:

• Versa
• Versa 2
• Versa 3
• Charge 4
• Versa Light
• Ionic
• Sense
• Alta HR
• Inspire
• Inspire HR
• Inspire 2
• Blaze

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Breach of warranty, Deceptive Advertising, Unjust Enrichment