Judge Denies Fitbit Motion to Dismiss PurePulse Class-Action Fraud Complaint 

In Fitbit’s motion to dismiss fraud allegations that its PurePulse heart-monitoring technology is grossly inaccurate, Fitbit raised a “variety” of objections “to the plausibility of the fraud and deception claims” against the company, “none of which are well taken,” said U.S. District Judge James Donato in San Francisco in a Tuesday order (in Pacer) denying the motion. Donato didn’t buy Fitbit’s arguments that its marketing slogans attesting to the accuracy of PurePulse are “inactionable puffery,” he said. The January 2016 class-action complaint (see 1601150046) is “replete with examples” of “actionable” phrases that misstate the product’s specific characteristics, said the judge. Though Fitbit argues its promotional slogans have nothing to do with accuracy, that “cannot be reconciled with the plain meaning of its own marketing words,” said Donato. The complaint “adequately alleges that Fitbit made an express warranty about the ability of PurePulse devices to accurately track heart rate throughout the day and during exercise,” he said. The complaint also argues “the ability to record heart rate in real time and during physical activity is marketed as a key feature of the PurePulse devices, yet in reality the products frequently fail to record any heart rate at all or provide highly inaccurate readings,” he said. “Those facts indicate that the devices lack even a basic degree of fitness for use as exercise or activity monitors.” Fitbit didn’t comment Wednesday. Plaintiffs are “pleased” Donato “recognized the strength of our claim that Fitbit misled consumers when it marketed its Fitbit trackers as being able to continuously and accurately measure heart rate during exercise,” said attorney Jonathan Selbin. “As independent test after test has shown, these devices are wildly inaccurate and cannot be relied upon to monitor heart rate during exercise reliably and safely.”