OneWheel Skateboard class action lawsuit for misrepresentation and breach of implied warranties allowed

While most of the lawsuits were filed on behalf of consumers who suffered injuries in a skateboarding accident, the MDL also received a class action lawsuit filed by Onewheel seeking damages for all consumers who were sold an allegedly defective product. However, the manufacturer sought to have the class action lawsuit dismissed because the plaintiffs did not properly present their case.

On July 12, Judge Labson issued a court order (PDF) agreeing that some of the lawsuits were improperly filed and dismissing those lawsuits, but also refusing to dismiss the class action outright. Instead, she gave the plaintiffs affected by the ruling the opportunity to refile amended lawsuits that better set out their claims that the electric skateboards were defective.

“Defendant argues that plaintiffs have not adequately stated a defect because nosedives are a consequence of a defect, not an independent defect, and plaintiffs have identified numerous allegedly defective parts without clearly identifying which of those parts are defective,” Judge Labson wrote. “Plaintiffs argue that they have adequately stated a defect and they do not need to show the causal connection of the defect to make a claim.”

Future Motion’s lawyers argued that disclosing the evidence to plaintiffs would make the case “unwieldy and cumbersome,” the order said.

The decision means that Onewheel’s class action lawsuit will continue and that plaintiffs who were dismissed from the case will be allowed to re-file after proper filing.

The ruling came about a month before an initial Onewheel settlement conference is scheduled to take place on August 13. The conference will focus on resolving personal injury claims brought by people who suffered broken bones and other injuries after their OneWheel skateboard crashed.

If the dispute cannot be resolved early in the pretrial process, Judge Freeman will likely initiate what is known as a “bellwether” process, which prepares a small group of representative claims for damages for a series of test trials to allow the parties to gauge how jurors are likely to react to expert testimony and evidence that will likely be repeated throughout the OneWheel trials.

If, after the MDL process, settlement negotiations, and any landmark proceedings, the parties are still unable to resolve the Onewheel claims or find another solution to the litigation, dozens of individual claims may later be remanded to the U.S. district court where they originated for separate trial dates in the future.