Onewheel Injury Lawsuits

Onewheel Injury Lawsuit Litigation Updates:

December 3, 2024

• OneWheel MDL Sees Minimal Growth: Only one new case was added to the OneWheel MDL in November, bringing the total number of pending cases to 89. With minimal growth expected in the future, the focus remains on reaching a settlement agreement soon.

November 1, 2024

• OneWheel MDL Remains Stable: No new cases were added to the OneWheel MDL in October, leaving the total number of pending cases at 88. Efforts are focused on reaching a settlement agreement in the near future.

October 1, 2024

• OneWheel MDL Sees Slow but Steady Growth: The OneWheel class action MDL added four new cases in September, bringing the total to 88. This modest increase reflects a trend of fewer new lawsuits, likely due to attorneys becoming more selective about the cases they take on, prioritizing those with more severe injuries. This selectivity stems from concerns about limited insurance coverage and the relatively small size of OneWheel as a company. While this may make it harder for some individuals with less severe injuries to find legal representation, it also suggests a greater likelihood of settlements for those with stronger claims.

September 3, 2024:

• Case Count: The number of pending cases in the OneWheel injury MDL has reached 84. This represents a moderate increase of approximately 20 cases since the beginning of the summer.

August 28, 2024:

• Settlement Talks: A settlement conference took place involving the parties and their insurance companies. While no settlement was reached, another conference is scheduled for November 12, 2024, replacing the previously planned October 1, 2024, date.

August 27, 2024:

• Financial Information and Coverage Briefs: Future Motion, Inc. will disclose its financial information to the insurance companies under a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA). The parties will exchange coverage briefs with each other and the insurers by September 23, 2024, with insurer responses due by October 22, 2024. Any further updates to the court are due by November 5, 2024.

August 22, 2024 

• Onewheel Trial Schedule Set: Following the completion of written discovery on July 31, 2024, Judge Freeman issued an order in early August establishing the schedule for preparing representative personal injury and wrongful death cases for early trial dates. The order indicates that Daubert hearings for the first two selected cases will be held on January 15, 2026, with the first trial set to begin on April 6, 2026.

July 17, 2024:

• Judge Dismisses Some Onewheel Class Action Claims, Allows Others to Proceed: The U.S. District Judge presiding over all Onewheel skateboard lawsuits dismissed certain class action claims against Future Motion related to design defects. However, the judge allowed claims for misrepresentation and breach of implied warranty to move forward, granting plaintiffs 30 days to refile an amended complaint to address the dismissed claims.

The court found that plaintiffs had not adequately specified the defective parts responsible for alleged nosedives. 

Judge Labson stated, "Defendant argues that Plaintiffs have not adequately alleged a defect because nosedives are an effect of a defect but not an independent defect and Plaintiffs have identified numerous purportedly defective parts without clearly identifying which of those parts is defective. Plaintiffs argue that they have adequately alleged a defect and they need not allege the causal pathway of the defect to state a claim."

July 4, 2024:

• OneWheel Accident Settlements To Be Discussed: A series of settlement conferences are scheduled for August and October 2024 to discuss potential resolutions for OneWheel accident lawsuits. If these talks fail to resolve the cases, lawyers have selected six potential bellwether cases to be prepared for early trials in the federal MDL.

June 15, 2024:

• OneWheel Settlement Rumors: Rumors circulate about a potential settlement in the ongoing OneWheel litigation, though no official confirmation has been made.

June 3, 2024:

• OneWheel MDL Grows: The OneWheel injury class action MDL sees an addition of 10 new cases, bringing the total to 65 pending cases.

May 16, 2024:

• Trial Cases Selected: Six representative cases are chosen for trial in the OneWheel MDL, focusing on personal injury and wrongful death claims. These cases include:
  
  
• Haggerty v. Future Motion, Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-06406-BLF, 1:22-cv-00322-SEG (N.D. Ga.)
• Oatridge v. Future Motion, Inc., Case No. 5:21-cv-09906-BLF (N.D. Cal.)
• Lopez-Roman v. Future Motion, Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-06404-BLF, 4:23-cv-10072-KMM (S.D. Fla.)
• Burke v. Future Motion, Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-06547-BLF, 1:23-cv-23442-CMA (S.D. Fla.)
• McAllister v. Future Motion, Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-06394-BLF, 4:23-cv-00205-SDJ (E.D. Tex.)
• Reeves v. Future Motion, Inc., Case No. 5:23-cv-06405-BLF, 0:23-cv-61295-RS (S.D. Fla.)

May 9, 2024:

• Settlement Talks Begin: A series of settlement conferences are scheduled to explore possible resolutions in the OneWheel litigation, with the first remote pre-settlement conference set for June 27, 2024.

Onewheel safety concerns lead to class action lawsuits

Future Motion Inc., the maker of Onewheel electric skateboards, finds itself at the center of increasing legal scrutiny as the number of product liability class action lawsuits rises. These actions are a response to a defect that allegedly causes the skateboards to stop abruptly, throwing riders off and leading to severe injuries.

The central complaint among riders is that the Onewheel can unexpectedly shut off during use, causing riders to be ejected from the board. This has led to various injuries among users, including serious conditions like bone fractures, paralysis, concussions, and traumatic brain injuries.

Claimants argue that Future Motion failed to provide adequate warnings about these risks, raising questions about the product's safety.

Recall announcement and CPSC warning

While on the market, Future Motion faced numerous reports of incidents involving the Onewheel skateboard, including four reported deaths between 2019 and 2021.

Despite these alarming reports and a warning from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in November 2022 about the ejection hazard posed by these skateboards, Future Motion initially resisted recalling the products.

“CPSC urges consumers not to buy the Onewheel [or] use it due to the ejection hazard....CPSC urges consumers NOT to resell or donate the Onewheel, so others are not put in danger by the hazard.”

The company eventually announced a recall of Onewheel skateboards on September 29, 2023, This recall was an acknowledgment of the potential for the skateboards to lose balance if pushed beyond their limits, posing a significant crash hazard. Future Motion offered a firmware update to mitigate this issue, introducing a warning system to alert riders of approaching board limits or error conditions.

The recall encompasses all models of Future Motion’s Onewheel skateboards, specifically:

• Onewheel®
• Onewheel+®
• Onewheel+ XR®
• Onewheel Pint®
• Onewheel Pint X®
• Onewheel GT®

Centralized litigation efforts

Before the recall, at least three wrongful death lawsuits had been filed, asserting that the Onewheel skateboard was inherently unsafe. The subsequent recall led to an increase in customer lawsuits, reaching a point where consolidation into a multidistrict litigation was deemed necessary.

Last December, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) decided to centralize all federally filed class action lawsuits concerning the Onewheel skateboard in the Northern District of California.

This consolidation aims to streamline the litigation process, with The Honorable Beth Labson Freeman appointed to oversee the proceedings. This move is significant, as it brings together numerous cases alleging injuries and safety failures associated with the Onewheel skateboard.

Efforts towards a potential early resolution of the litigation have seen the involved parties meeting with a U.S. Magistrate Judge. The initial conference, which took place on February 15, 2024, opened discussions on how to address the claims comprehensively. Before these talks, both sides were tasked with selecting three representative cases each, a crucial step meant to be completed by April 10, 2024, to facilitate negotiations.

The Onewheel safety failure litigation is In Re: Future Motion Inc. Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 3087, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division.

Have you or someone close to you been hurt while riding a Onewheel skateboard? It's important to recognize that what you've experienced isn't right. You deserve to have your story heard and to explore your options for seeking the justice you're owed.

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Mass torts vs. class actions at a glance

When we're talking about mass tort and class action lawsuits, we're discussing two distinct legal approaches used to handle claims where many individuals are harmed by the same entity or event.

Mass tort lawsuits are a way to handle legal cases where many individuals have been harmed, but each person's situation is distinct. Think of it like a neighborhood where every house has different damage after a storm. In a mass tort, each homeowner would file their own lawsuit, but because the storm is the common factor, the court groups the lawsuits together to manage them more efficiently. The key here is that each person retains their own case and has a say in how it's settled, which reflects their unique damages.

In contrast, class action lawsuits and class action settlements bring people together under a single legal action. It's as if the whole neighborhood decided to sue the storm together, with one or a few neighbors representing everyone's interests. Here, individual control is limited. The representative, known as the lead plaintiff, along with their legal team, makes decisions that affect the entire group. When it comes to the payout, it's typically split evenly, or based on a formula that applies to all members.

What's best for you?

Let's quickly sum up the main points to help you decide which legal route could work better for your situation:

• Control: More personal control in mass torts; limited control in class actions.

• Compensation: Individualized in mass torts; uniform in class actions.

• Applicability: Mass torts fit for varied individual damages; class actions for uniform damages across the group.

• Efficiency: Class actions can be quicker and use fewer resources by combining claims.

So, if you're part of a group that's been wronged and you're thinking about legal action, consider these points. Do you need to maintain control over your case, or are you okay with a representative taking the lead? Do your damages require individual attention, or are they similar enough to others to share in a collective claim? Your answers will help determine whether a mass tort or a class action is the best route for your situation.

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