Peloton Is Being Sued By a Woman Who Alleges Her Son Died During Workout After Severing His Neck, Face Peloton is denying the allegations and dismissing the claims.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
Peloton has been facing several recalls due to injuries and reported deaths tied to its machinery.
Now, in a new lawsuit, a New York woman is alleging that one of the company's bikes killed her son "instantly" by slicing his carotid artery open after he disembarked from the machinery to complete the floor part of his workout.
Johanna Furtado of New York is alleging that her son, Ryan Furtado, was using the bike on January 13, 2021, during one of the company's "Core" workouts which required him to hop off the bike and then use the bike to "assist him in getting up" when he was finished with the off-bike exercises.
Related: Peloton Is Recalling All of Its Original Bikes Sold Over the Last Five Years, About 2.2 Million
The suit then states that when he tried to pull himself up, the bike "spun around and impacted him on his neck and face" before severing him open.
Furtado claims that Peloton's machinery is "unreasonably dangerous in its manufacturing and design" and that "the risks of such dangers substantially outweighed any benefit or utility of its design."
Furtado's lawsuit was filed in Brooklyn Civil Supreme Court. It has not been specified what she's seeking in damages.
Peloton has dismissed the lawsuit and is denying the allegations.
"Upon information and belief, the incident giving rise to this action was caused by the negligence or other culpable conduct of one or more parties for which Peloton is not responsible, and, therefore, Peloton is not legally responsible," Peloton said in a formal response to Furtado's suit.
The suit states that Peloton did not include enough warning labels on the bike "to adequately warn the user of injury that could occur if the Subject Bike is used to pull oneself up from the floor during a workout."
Related: Peloton Bikes Will Now Be Sold on Amazon as Company Reports $1 Billion Loss
In May, Peloton issued a voluntary recall of its original bike model sold between January 2018 and May 2023 after at least 35 people claimed that the bike seat broke during usage leading to injuries including one person with a fractured wrist.
The company is, however, coming off of a strong Q2 2023 after reporting a loss of $335.4 million compared to $439.4 million at the same time last year, showing that the company is on an up after it has struggled to maintain growth post-pandemic.
Peloton was down just over 38% year-over-year as of Friday morning.
