Williams-Sonoma must pay $3.2 million for falsely claiming products were “Made in the USA”
Eric Lagatta, USA Today
2019: A federal judge granted final approval of a settlement agreement that resolves this lawsuit. According to its terms, the company agreed to provide class members with a chest strap for heart rate readings if their exercise equipment did not come with one or to extend the length of the warranty on the chest strap that came with their exercise equipment. In addition, the company agreed to place language on its treadmills advising consumers of the limitations of the heart rate systems.
2016: A federal judge allowed the plaintiffs to file the amended complaint, but limited the class to those from Illinois and states with laws similar to Illinois’s, and the products to ones that will not “prolong discovery.”
2014: A class-action lawsuit was filed against Precor, a manufacturer of exercise machines, for allegedly misleadingly advertising that machines with its touch sensor heart rate monitors accurately read users’ heart rates when, according to plaintiffs, the feature does not work as advertised. (Mednick et al v. Precor, Inc., Case No. 14-cv-3624, N.D. Ill.)
For more information about the marketing of sports equipment and TINA.org’s coverage of the products, click here.
Eric Lagatta, USA Today
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