Fitbit Agrees to Pay $12.25 Million Civil Penalty for Failure to Immediately Report Serious Burn Hazard with Ionic Smartwatches

WASHINGTON, Jan. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing that Fitbit LLC, of San Francisco, California, has agreed to pay a $12.25 million civil penalty. The settlement, which has been provisionally accepted by CPSC, resolves CPSC's charges that Fitbit knowingly failed to immediately report to CPSC, as required by law, that its Ionic smartwatches contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard and created 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 smartwatches overheating while being 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 smartwatches contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard or created an unreasonable risk of serious injury, Fitbit did not immediately report to the Commission as required. 

The Commission and Fitbit jointly announced a recall of the Ionic smartwatches on March 2, 2022. The recall stated that the firm had received at least 115 reports in the United States of the battery in the smartwatch 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 designed to ensure compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), including enhancements made to its compliance program.  Fitbit has also agreed to submit an annual report 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.

Commissioner Statements:

Statement of Alexander Hoehn-Saric
Statement of Richard Trumka

About the U.S. CPSC
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products has contributed to a decline in the rate of injuries associated with consumer products over the past 50 years.

Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC.

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Release Number: 25-100

SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission