Fitbit Force Recall Leads to Class Action Lawsuit

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Fitbit Inc., accusing the company of failing to warn about the potential health consequences posed by its popular Fitbit Force, including the risk of skin irritation, rashes and burns.

The Fitbit Force is an activity tracker that is designed to be worn on the wrist. The wireless-enabled device measures and records activity such as the number of steps walked, quality of sleep and other metrics. According to the class action lawsuit, the Fitbit Force was offered to the general public in October.

Plaintiff Jim Spivey filed the class action lawsuit shortly after San Francisco-based Fitbit recalled the Fitbit Force due to reports of skin irritation. On its website, Fitbit announced that 1.7 percent of Fitbit Force users had experienced an irritation after wearing the device. According to an article from The Wall Street Journal, a post on Fitbit’s website suggested the cause of the irritations was most likely an allergic reaction to nickel, a component of the Fitbit Force. Subsequently, the company halted sales of the Fitbit Force and issued a voluntary recall of the device.

Spivey claims that he purchased the Fitbit Force in January 2014 for $129.95, plus an additional sales tax. According to the class action lawsuit, he made the decision to purchase the Fitbit after seeing advertisements and promotional materials for the activity tracking device.

The class action lawsuit says Fitbit “lures its customers in by advertising the newest and most up to date activity trackers, including the Fitbit Force, as a device one can safely wear all day every day, including in the shower and while sleeping.” Further, the Fitbit Force is advertised as “a safe, comfortable, non-hazardous device one can wear on his/her wrist in order to monitor particular activity levels.”

“At no time during the promotion, marketing, advertising, distributing, or selling of the Fitbit Force product did Fitbit warn its customers or the general public of any adverse health consequences such as skin irritation, rashes, burns, blisters, cuts, boils, open wounds, redness, itching, cracking, peeling, or any other physical injuries,” the class action lawsuit says.

According to The Wall Street Journal article, Spivey was unaware of the potential problems associated with the Fitbit Force when he happened to peruse the company’s website looking for more information about the device’s features. Although he has not developed a skin irritation, he says he stopped using the device after learning about the potential for skin irritation. He believes Fitbit should bear the burden of alerting consumers about the risk of injury associated with the Fitbit Force.

Spivey alleges Fitbit’s attempts to recall or refund the price of the Fitbit Force are inadequate. “Any alleged or claimed attempts to recall and/or refund Plaintiff or members of the putative class are wholly inadequate and not intended to actually notify Class Members nor intended to actually refund Class Members,” the class action lawsuit says.

The class action lawsuit brings claims of negligence, false advertising, unfair competition, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation and strict products liability.

Spivey is represented by John H. Gomez, John P. Fiske and Stephanie S. Poli of Gomez Trial Attorneys; John A. Corr, Stephen A. Corr and Ian S. Abovitz of Stark & Stark; and Robert M. Foote and Kathleen C. Chavez of Foote Mielke Chavez & O’Neil LLC.

The Fitbit False Advertising Class Action Lawsuit is Jim Spivey v. Fitbit Inc., et al., Case No. 37-2014-00007109, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Diego.