Precor Argues Against Cert. in Treadmill Heart Rate Monitor Class Action

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Fitness equipment company Precor says certification is not appropriate in a class action lawsuit alleging the heart rate monitors in its treadmills are defective.

Lead plaintiffs allege in their class action lawsuit that the Touch Sensor heart rate monitors contained in various Precor fitness equipment are defective because they stop working when users reach a particular speed.

The class action lawsuit claims that Precor’s marketing stated that the Touch Sensor monitors work whether users were walking or running, but that is not the case.

Precor argues that neither plaintiff said they would use their treadmills for running and “bluntly admitted” that they never read any marketing materials from Precor before making their purchase.

“Both testified that they tested the units in the store, and bought them without reading and without regard to any Precor marketing materials or representations,” contended Precor in its motion. “Accordingly, any Precor representation is irrelevant to their purchase decisions. No asserted ‘false advertising’ claim can stand where the plaintiffs, as class representatives, never read or relied upon the advertising,” the company said.

Precor also pointed out in its motion to dismiss the class action that each piece of equipment comes with material explaining that the Touch Sensor heart rate monitor’s effectiveness varies depending on the user.

“Precor provides express disclaimers, both online at Precor.com, and in its Owners Manuals, that individual results will vary, and may be erratic, based on numerous factors, including individual physiology and age,” Precor wrote.

“Individual factual and legal issues predominate over common ones,” argued Precor in its motion. “Every class member would have to be tested to see whether the systems work for them based on their individual physiology. This would necessitate hundreds if not thousands of mini-trials.”

“It simply cannot be assumed, as plaintiffs would have it with their broad brush, that any alleged deficiency in one system, for one individual, is the same in any other system,” Precor states.

The class action claims were trimmed by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber in September of this year.

The plaintiffs lost their first motion for certification in June as well, but Judge Leinenweber allowed them to amend their claims. However, only claims based on Illinois consumer protection law and substantially similar laws of other states were allowed to proceed.

The treadmill consumers are represented by Katrina Carroll and Kyle Shamberg of Lite DePalma Greenberg LLC, Joseph Siprut of Siprut PC and Richard Gordon of Gordon Law Offices Ltd.

The Precor Defective Heart Rate Monitor Class Action Lawsuit is Mednick v. Precor Inc., Case No. 1:14-cv-03624, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

UPDATE: July 2019, the Precor treadmill class action settlement is now open. Click here file a claim.