Exercise equipment maker Peloton Interactive is facing multiple investigations and lawsuits for injuries and deaths allegedly caused by its popular treadmills, many of which have been recalled due to safety issues. If you or a family member have been hurt by a Peloton product, you should consult with an attorney about your legal right to seek compensation.

Peloton recalled its Tread+ and Tread models in May 2021 after the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) received more than 70 reports of adults, children and pets being injured. One report involved the death of a child and 29 others involved injuries to children that included abrasions, broken bones and lacerations. About 125,000 Tread+ units were recalled. In addition, more than 1,000 units of the original Tread model were recalled because the touchscreens on the machines were detaching and falling, posing an injury risk to users.

After the recalls, multiple lawsuits were filed in courts around the country. Families in New York and Florida have filed individual suits alleging their young children suffered burns, scarring and emotional trauma after being dragged under treadmills. A class action suit over the Tread+ was filed in California while a class action over the Tread is pending in Florida.

All these cases involve personal injury claims based on product liability, namely that Peloton placed unreasonably dangerous or defective products into the hands of consumers. There are three types of product defects that can lead to liability on the part of a manufacturer:

• Design defects — This means an inherent flaw in the design of the product that makes it unreasonably dangerous even when used for its intended purpose.
• Manufacturing defects — A product’s design may be perfectly acceptable but something in the assembly process may have gone awry. For example, the material chosen to build a product may have been subpar or the manufacturing process may have lacked proper quality assurance testing.
• Defects in marketing — These are flaws in the way products are advertised and distributed, such as improper labeling, insufficient instructions or missing or inadequate safety warnings.

The Peloton suits mostly involve alleged design defects. One suit alleges that the Tread+ design is “extremely susceptible to children and pets getting trapped underneath the machine while it is operating.” The California class action also alleges marketing defects, namely that a Peloton advertisement showing pictures of a woman with a young child indicated that the treadmills were safe to use around kids.

If you live in Connecticut and you or your child was injured by a Peloton treadmill, you may be entitled to compensation. The personal injury lawyers of Gesmonde, Pietrosimone & Sgrignari, L.L.C. can provide a case evaluation. Please call 203-745-0942 or contact us online for a confidential consultation with our team in Hamden or East Haven.