Swiss running brand On is facing a new class action lawsuit after multiple people claim its sneakers with CloudTec outsoles emit “a loud, embarrassing, and difficult to stop squeaking sound” with each step.
In a complaint filed on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Oregon, Patricia Ramirez and Louis Bologna are both claiming they were “injured by the price premium” they paid for the shoes as a result of On’s “material representations and omissions.”
Ramirez stated in the lawsuit that she bought a pair of On Cloudmonster sneakers from a Dick’s Sporting Goods in Sept. 2024 and noticed “almost immediately” that the shoes were allegedly squeaking with every step. Ramirez stated that she only used them three times before “giving up on them” and is “no longer able to use her shoes as intended due to the embarrassment and annoyance.”
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Bologna has a similar story, stating in the claim that he purchased a pair of On Cloudmonster sneakers from the brand’s website last September. He claims that after three months of using the sneakers, he noticed a “squeaking” with each step and can no longer walk or run in the shoes.
The complaint goes on to highlight several social media posts on Reddit and TikTok as well as negative reviews from consumers who have experienced the same alleged problem. Both plaintiffs are claiming they tried to remedy the problem by returning the shoes but were unable to do so.
“[On] continued to market and sell its high-priced athletic shoes with a defect that it knew existed but failed to remedy the issue,” the complaint added. “At the same time, [On] refused to make injured consumers whole by exempting this defect from its warranty and continued to sell the product without any warning. [On] could have warned consumer, fixed the design, and/or offered to fix the shoes or give consumers their money back but did none of those things.”
FN has reached out to On for comment.
The unusual case comes after On stated in its fourth quarter earnings call in March that its Cloudmonster and Cloudsurfer sneaker models contributed “significantly” to growth in the period.
