The Peloton lawsuit landscape spans product-safety penalties, shareholder fraud claims, a wrongful-death suit, music copyright litigation, and a recent tariff challenge. The largest single action was a $19 million civil penalty from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission tied to the Tread+ treadmill recall. Others have settled, some have been dismissed, and a few remain active into 2026.
The Tread+ Treadmill Case and $19 Million CPSC Penalty
Peloton began receiving reports in December 2018 that people, children, pets, and objects were being pulled beneath the rear roller of its Tread+ treadmill. The company did not notify the CPSC until March 2021, after learning a six-year-old child had died from being entrapped under the machine.1Consumer Product Safety Commission. Peloton Agrees to Pay $19 Million Civil Penalty for Failure to Immediately Report Tread+ Treadmill Entrapment Hazards By that point there were more than 150 documented incidents, including 13 injuries with broken bones, lacerations, and friction burns.2Consumer Reports. Peloton Fined by CPSC for Product Safety Violations
In April 2021 the CPSC issued a public warning urging owners with small children or pets to stop using the Tread+. Peloton initially called the warning “inaccurate and misleading.”3Peloton Interactive. Peloton Refutes Consumer Product Safety Commission Claims Weeks later, on May 5, 2021, the company and the agency jointly announced the recall of roughly 125,000 units and offered full refunds.4Consumer Product Safety Commission. Peloton Tread+ Rear Guard Repair Approved
The CPSC later charged that Peloton knowingly distributed 38 recalled Tread+ units after the recall was public.1Consumer Product Safety Commission. Peloton Agrees to Pay $19 Million Civil Penalty for Failure to Immediately Report Tread+ Treadmill Entrapment Hazards By May 2023 total reports had reached 351, with 90 injuries in addition to the child’s death.4Consumer Product Safety Commission. Peloton Tread+ Rear Guard Repair Approved
On January 5, 2023, the CPSC announced a $19,065,000 civil penalty, one of the largest in the agency’s history. It broke down as $16,025,000 for the reporting failure and $3,040,000 for shipping recalled units.5USA Today. Peloton Settlement Over Treadmill Child Death The total exceeded the $17.15 million statutory cap for a related series of violations because two separate legal violations were charged.2Consumer Reports. Peloton Fined by CPSC for Product Safety Violations The commissioners voted 4-0 to accept the settlement, which also required an enhanced compliance program and five years of annual reports. Peloton admitted no wrongdoing.
A September 2022 Peloton SEC filing disclosed that the Department of Justice and Department of Homeland Security had issued subpoenas about injury reporting, and the SEC had opened its own investigation into the company’s recall disclosures.6Consumer Reports. Consumer Reports Applauds Federal Fine of Peloton
Exercise Bike Recalls
Peloton’s regulatory problems reached the bikes as well. In October 2020 the company recalled about 27,000 bikes with first-generation PR70P clip-in pedals sold between July 2013 and May 2016, after 120 reports of pedals breaking and 16 leg injuries, five requiring stitches.7Forbes. Peloton Recalls Pedals on Nearly 30,000 Bikes After Reports of Injuries
A much larger recall came on May 11, 2023, covering roughly 2.2 million original Peloton Bikes (Model PL01). Seat posts could break during use, and Peloton had received 35 reports of breakage and 13 injuries, including a fractured wrist.8Consumer Product Safety Commission. Peloton Recalls Two Million Exercise Bikes Due to Fall and Injury Hazards In November 2025 the company recalled another 833,000 Bike+ units (Model PL02) for the same defect after three breakage reports and two injuries.9CNBC. Peloton Recalls 833,000 More Bikes Over Seat Post Issue Owners were offered free replacement seat posts they could install themselves.
Securities Class Actions
As Peloton’s stock lost more than 80 percent of its pandemic-era value, investors filed securities fraud claims. The first, Peloton Interactive, Inc. Securities Litigation, ran in the Eastern District of New York against Peloton, former CEO John Foley, and former CFO Jill Woodworth, among others. The class period covered September 11, 2020, through May 5, 2021.10Peloton Securities Settlement. Peloton Interactive Inc. Securities Litigation Settlement
Magistrate Judge Peggy Kuo granted final approval to a $14 million settlement on July 9, 2024. Seven investors opted out, no objections were filed, and the court approved $3.9 million in attorneys’ fees, about 28 percent of the fund.11Bloomberg Law. Peloton Investors Notch Final OK for $14 Million Settlement
A separate securities case, brought by Dutch investment firm Robeco and the City of Hialeah, Florida employee pension fund in the Southern District of New York, alleged Peloton misled investors in 2021 by claiming demand remained strong while sales were dropping and inventory was piling up. U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter Jr. dismissed the suit in September 2024, calling the statements forward-looking puffery paired with risk warnings. In August 2025 a Second Circuit panel partially reversed, reviving claims tied to three specific statements from SEC filings and a February 2021 earnings call, and remanded the case for further proceedings.12Courthouse News Service. Second Circuit Partially Revives Peloton Investors’ Class Action Over Financial Forecasts
The “Project Tinman” Rust Lawsuit
In June 2023, shareholder Sam Solomon filed a separate securities class action later led by Jia Tian and David Feigelman. Tian v. Peloton Interactive, Inc. alleged Peloton concealed bike quality-control problems during and after the pandemic. The class period ran from May 6, 2021, through August 22, 2023.13CaseMine. Tian v. Peloton Interactive Inc.
The complaint centered on an internal program allegedly code-named “Project Tinman,” in which factory workers were said to apply a chemical rust converter to bike seat frames so the units could be sold at full price. Confidential witnesses said any visible rust would previously have disqualified a frame from sale. Plaintiffs also alleged Peloton knew of at least 35 seat post detachment reports by April 2023 without disclosing the growing risk before the May 2023 recall.13CaseMine. Tian v. Peloton Interactive Inc.
On April 2, 2026, U.S. District Judge Margo Brodie in Brooklyn dismissed the case in a 54-page decision. She found that even assuming executives knew of the 35 broken-seat-post reports, that alone did not suggest they should have anticipated a recall of every original bike sold over a five-year window. The court also held Peloton could not be held liable for initially underestimating recall costs, which grew from an $8.4 million estimate to an additional $40 million accrual as replacement requests reached 750,000.14The Daily Record. Peloton Wins Dismissal of Lawsuit Claiming It Concealed Bike Rust That Heralded Recall
Shareholder Derivative Suits and Governance Reforms
Three derivative actions filed against Peloton’s directors and officers were consolidated:
- In re Peloton Interactive, Inc. Derivative Litigation (Case No. 1:21-cv-02862, E.D.N.Y.)
- In re Peloton Interactive, Inc. Stockholder Derivative Litigation (Case No. 2022-1051, Delaware Court of Chancery)
- Blackburn v. Foley (Case No. 22-cv-01618, D. Del.)
Shareholders alleged company leadership engaged in insider trading, selling roughly $500 million of stock while downplaying Tread+ safety concerns.15Pelo Buddy. Peloton Corporate Governance Lawsuit Settled Named defendants included Foley, Barry McCarthy, Woodworth, and nine other current or former directors and officers.16Stock Titan. Notice of Settlement of Shareholder Derivative Actions
A stipulation dated November 15, 2024, settled the actions without a cash payment to stockholders. Peloton instead agreed to governance reforms: adding a new independent director (completed February 2022), amending the Audit Committee charter to cover product-safety risks and officer stock-trade reviews, maintaining an Executive Product Safety Committee, appointing a VP of Safety, Ethics, and Compliance, and updating whistleblower policies.17Peloton Interactive. Notice of Settlement of Derivative Actions Peloton’s insurers agreed to pay $1,750,000 in plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees. The court granted preliminary approval on May 2, 2025, with a final hearing set for June 13, 2025, before Judge Carol Bagley Amon.15Pelo Buddy. Peloton Corporate Governance Lawsuit Settled
Wrongful Death Lawsuit Over the Bike
In March 2023, Johanna Furtado sued in Brooklyn civil court over the January 13, 2022, death of her 32-year-old son Ryan Furtado. According to the complaint, Ryan was performing floor exercises and tried to pull himself up using the Peloton bike for support. The bike allegedly spun around and struck him in the face and neck, severing his carotid artery.18NY1. Lawsuit Blames Peloton for Death of NYC Man Whose Bike Fell on His Neck During Workout
The suit called the bike “defective and unreasonably dangerous in design, instruction, and warning,” faulting Peloton for not warning owners about tipping risk when the bike is used as a brace and for inadequate stability testing.19NBC DFW. New York Man Was Killed Instantly by Peloton Bike, His Family Says in Lawsuit Peloton denied liability and pointed to what it called the victim’s own negligence and “misuse or abuse of the product.”18NY1. Lawsuit Blames Peloton for Death of NYC Man Whose Bike Fell on His Neck During Workout No resolution has been reported.
Music Publishers Copyright Suit
In March 2019, fourteen members of the National Music Publishers’ Association sued Peloton in the Southern District of New York, alleging the company used copyrighted songs in streamed workout classes without synchronization licenses. The initial complaint sought $150 million; an amended complaint in September 2019 raised the demand to $300 million.20Harvard Journal of Law and Technology. Peloton Settles With the National Music Publishers Association Over Copyright Infringement Claim
Peloton’s antitrust counterclaims were dismissed on January 29, 2020. On February 27, 2020, the parties announced a full settlement and a joint collaboration agreement on licensing going forward. NMPA President David Israelite said the deal “compensates creators properly.” Financial terms were not disclosed.21Peloton Interactive. NMPA and Peloton Announce Settlement of Litigation
Tariff Lawsuit
Peloton’s newest legal action sits outside product safety. On January 7, 2026, Peloton and its subsidiary Precor Incorporated filed suit in the U.S. Court of International Trade challenging tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, seeking to have them declared unlawful and to recover all tariffs paid since February 2025.22Pelo Buddy. Peloton Tariff Lawsuit 2026
The case was folded into a consolidated proceeding involving more than 75 companies. In February 2026 the Supreme Court ruled in Learning Resources v. United States that IEEPA tariffs were unlawful. U.S. Customs and Border Protection began processing refunds, but the Department of Justice appealed in June 2026, arguing that universal refund orders provide impermissible relief to non-litigants.23Holland & Knight. IEEPA Tariff Refund Update: Government Appeals As of mid-2026 the appeals are pending before the Federal Circuit, and Peloton’s claim remains unresolved as part of that litigation.