The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced on Friday, January 23, that Fitbit, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, CA, has agreed to pay a $12.25 million civil penalty.
The terms of the Settlement Agreement, found here, which the CPSC has provisionally accepted, resolve the CPSC’s charges that Fitbit knowingly failed to immediately report to the CPSC, as required by law, that its Ionic Smartwatches contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard and an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death to consumers.
During 2018 and 2019 and continuing into 2020, Fitbit received numerous reports of the Ionic Smartwatch overheating when worn by consumers, causing some consumers to sustain burns, including second-degree and third-degree burns on their arms or wrists.
In early 2020, Fitbit initiated a firmware update to mitigate the potential for battery overheating; however, Fitbit continued to receive reports of consumers suffering burns due to the product overheating.
Despite possessing information that reasonably supported the conclusion that the Ionic Smartwatch contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard or create an unreasonable risk of serious injury, Fitbit did not immediately report to the Commission as required.
The Commission and Fitbit jointly announced a recall, found here, of the Ionic Smartwatch on March 2, 2022. The recall states that the company had received at least 115 reports from consumers in the United States of the smartwatch’s battery overheating, with 78 reports of burn injuries in the United States, including two reports of third-degree burns and four reports of second-degree burns.
In addition to the $12.25 million civil penalty, the Settlement Agreement requires Fitbit to maintain internal controls and procedures to ensure compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), including the company making enhancements to its compliance program.
Fitbit has also agreed to submit an annual report to the Commission regarding its compliance program, internal controls and internal audit of the effectiveness of compliance policies, procedures, systems, and training.
By a 5 to 0 vote, the Commission provisionally accepted the settlement agreement, subject to public comment.
Mark S. Raffman, a senior trial attorney in the Division of Enforcement and Litigation, represented the Commission in this enforcement action.
Read Commissioner Alexander Hoehn-Saric’s statement on the $12.25M Settlement with Fitbit LLC here.
Image courtesy Fitbit/CPSC
