Posted on August 24, 2023

Lawsuit Claiming Apple Watch Sensor Exhibits ‘Racial Bias’ Is Dismissed

Jonathan Stempel, Reuters, August 21, 2023

Apple (AAPL.O) on Monday won the dismissal of a lawsuit claiming that the blood oxygen sensor on its Apple Watch exhibits “racial bias” against people with darker skin tones.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan dismissed the proposed class action with prejudice, meaning it cannot be brought again. {snip}

The plaintiff Alex Morales, a resident of Manhattan’s Upper East Side, said he paid an inflated price for his Apple Watch based on his mistaken belief that its blood oxygen app would measure blood oxygen levels “without regard to skin tone.”

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Morales said the real-world impact of this bias was not addressed until the COVID-19 pandemic led to “greater awareness of structural racism” in society.

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