NorCal Company Given $425,000 Civil Penalty for Neglecting to Report Dangerous Fitness Gear

By Kelly Balamuth on August 24, 2011

Perfect Fitness, a Sausalito-based company, has been given a $425,000 civil penalty by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) on grounds that it neglected to report product defects that resulted in hazardous exercise equipment. Specifically, the flaw in its Perfect Pullups product causes the handles to break during use, posing a fall danger to users.

In 2008, the CPSC claims the company deduced that the equipment in question was faulty based on retesting of the handle design. “The testing was done after the firm received a complaint and, according to the firm’s internal review, an unusual number of product returns,” according to the CPSC press release. In July 2008, Perfect Fitness redesigned the gear to fix the fault.

But according to the CPSC, the company knew of at least 23 injuries associated with its product in March 2010 and failed to report the issue to the CPSC. Perfect Fitness did not inform the CPSC of the flaw until December 2010. CPSC staff said that, at that time, the firm knew of at least 45 reports of injury in relation to the pull-up handles snapping, and had received more than 2,000 calls for replacements.

The company and the CPSC issued a recall of approximately 7,000 Perfect Pullups products in February 2011. The recalled equipment sold for around $80-$100 at sporting goods stores across the country, on Amazon.com, and during direct television marketing, from January 2008 through February 2011.

Companies are obligated by federal law to immediately inform the CPSC of any knowledge of defective products that may be dangerous to consumers. If you have been injured by a defective product, contact the dangerous product attorneys in Walnut Creek at Balamuth Harrington at 1-888-254-1234 for a complimentary consultation.