Suits Claim Skechers Shape-ups Cause Injuries, Are Fraudulently Marketed
A Illinois woman is the latest plaintiff to file a suit claiming her Skechers Shape-ups are a dangerous product.
The suit (PDF) was filed on behalf of Theresa Croak of suburban Chicago by Kentucky-based law firm Schachter, Hendy & Johnson, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. Croak claims she suffered a torn tendon while sightseeing in Washington, D.C., because of the shoe’s “elevated and unstable, rocker-bottom sole.”
Schacter Hendy has filed similar suits in Kentucky and Ohio and is planning others in Georgia, Virginia and Utah, The BLT says. Another lawyer, Andy Bederman of Greenberg and Bederman in Washington, D.C., told ABC2News.com that he has at least 40 clients who have suffered broken bones, muscle tears and other injuries while wearing the shoes.
Another class action pending in federal court in the Southern District of California contends Skechers are being fraudulently marketed as having health benefits.
Skechers provided both publications with a statement defending its product as safe. Rocker bottom shoes have been sold since at least 1996, “with no significant reports of injury until just recently, and those claims remain unproven,” according to the statement provided to ABC.
“Like other products—including high-heeled shoes and roller or ice skates—rocker bottom shoes are slightly unstable,” the statement says. “Because the rocker bottom design keeps you a little off balance, you use otherwise underutilized muscles to retain balance and proper positioning while standing or walking. This instability is what allows Shape-ups to do their job.”
