A lawsuit recently filed against Fitbit alleges that it’s heart rate monitors are inaccurate, as the lawyers involved are looking for more plaintiffs.
Plaintiffs and lawyers speak against Fitbit
Following the holiday season, Fitbit’s stock rose on the belief that the company sold a number of its devices. While Fitbit has yet to report holiday sales its move up the App Store on the Free App list gave many the impression that the company had a good December with more and more people presumably downloading the app to optimize the device.
But in a litigious society like the United States, more sales will mean more people complaining and ultimately filing suit.
So far there are only three plaintiffs but their lawyers are looking to expand the suit into a class action against the maker of the $150 Charge HR and $250 Surge claiming that the two devices don’t accurately measure heart rates.
Speaking on the Today show on Friday, one of the plaintiffs, Kate McLellan, said, “I’m a mom. I like to work out. I like to be fit. My Fitbit was saying that [my heart rate] was at 114, which is really, really low.”
She used the heart rate monitor on her gym’s equipment in order to, in her mind, get a more accurate reading and then complained to the company.
“She made it sound like it was my fault, like I was using it wrong or wearing it wrong,” McLellan said of her discussion with customer service.. “She said it’s not really meant to track your heart rate all of the time.”
Fitbit’s response and additional allegations
“We do not believe this case has merit,” a spokesperson for Fitbit said in a statement. “Fitbit stands behind out heart-rate technology and strongly disagrees with the statements made in the complaint and plans to vigorously defend the lawsuit.”
In what I believe to be all sorts of frivolous, lawyers involved in the suit have other issues.
“You can’t even use it as a watch to tell what time it is unless you register it on the website,” Bob Klonoff, one of the lawyers who filed the suit, said. “And that’s when you have to agree to all of these terms.”
So register it already.
Another lawyer believes that Fitbit’s registration is unfair as it limits lawsuits. What a shocker a lawyer who doesn’t like a narrowing of potential legal action.
“They are told they are bound by the arbitration clause and class-action ban,” lawyer Jonathan Selbin said. “Well, that’s unfair.”
