Donrick Sanderson v. Whoop, Inc.

District Court, N.D. California·Decided July 2, 2026·No. 3:23-cv-05477·Unknown

Opinion

DONRICK SANDERSON, Case No. 23-cv-05477-CRB

Plaintiff, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND v. DENYING IN PART CROSS- MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY

Defendant. Docket Nos. 97, 99 I. INTRODUCTION This is a certified class action arising from alleged violations of California state consumer protection laws. Plaintiff Donrick Sanderson alleges that Whoop, Inc. (“Whoop”) violated California’s Automatic Renewal Law (“ARL”) and, through said violations, deceived consumers and illegally charged them for continually-renewing memberships. Plaintiff and Defendant filed cross-motions for summary judgment. The Court DENIES Plaintiff’s motion and GRANTS IN PART AND DENIES IN PART Defendant’s motion. Specifically, the Court DISMISSES WITHOUT PREJUDICE to refiling in state court Plaintiff’s UCL and FAL claims in their entirety, and Plaintiff’s CLRA claim to the extent it seeks equitable restitution and injunctive relief, for lack of equitable jurisdiction. The Court DENIES summary judgment as to both parties on the remaining CLRA damages claim, which may proceed to trial. II. BACKGROUND A. Factual Background Plaintiff alleges that Whoop sold him an auto-renewing membership without properly disclosing the terms of the auto-renewal deal both before and after purchase. See Second Amended Complaint (“SAC”) (Dkt. 42). California’s ARL prohibits companies from enrolling consumers in auto-renewing memberships without making “clear and conspicuous” disclosures of specific “automatic renewal offer terms” “in visual proximity . . . to the request for consent to the offer.” Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §§ 17601(a)(2), 17602(a)(1). Whoop sells wearable fitness trackers and a subscription-based membership that allows users to access associated tracking software. SAC ¶ 3. Regardless of whether users initially sign up for an “Annual Membership,” a “24 Month Membership,” or a “1 Month Free Trial,” Whoop automatically enrolls users in a new Annual Membership billed on an auto-renewing basis at the end of the user’s initial membership period. See id. ¶¶ 27–28. Plaintiff alleges that Whoop’s pre-purchase disclosures violated the ARL because they did not include required terms and were not presented in a “clear and conspicuous” way. Id. ¶ 29. Plaintiff also alleges that Whoop violated the ARL by failing to give adequate post- purchase acknowledgements, also required by California’s ARL. Id. ¶ 57. Plaintiff Sanderson alleges that he purchased a Whoop membership in April 2021 and that Whoop automatically renewed that membership twice, without his knowledge or consent.1 Id. ¶¶ 63–71. Sanderson continued uploading data from his Whoop device until April 23, 2023 — roughly a year after the first automatic renewal. Whoop Ex. 15. On July 21, 2023, Sanderson contacted Whoop’s membership services team, stating that his “biggest concern that caused [him] to cancel” was that his Whoop devices no longer held sufficient charge and were no longer usable. Whoop Ex. 21. During that conversation with a membership services team member, Sanderson never raised any issue regarding auto-renewal itself. See id. Sanderson finally canceled his membership on June 6, 2024, avoiding a third automatic renewal. See McGahee Expert Report at 10 n.32 (“I understand that although Sanderson scheduled the cancellation of his Whoop membership on June 6, 2024, he was still able to use all features associated with his membership until June 22, 2024, one year after his second autorenewal payment.”). Plaintiff alleges that he “faces an imminent threat of future harm. He likes the Whoop service and would buy a (limited term, non-renewing) subscription again” if he were certain that Whoop would not auto-renew his membership again. SAC ¶ 72. Without an injunction, however, Sanderson alleges that he cannot trust Whoop to comply with the ARL. Id. Sanderson testified at his deposition that he would not have purchased a membership, had the auto-renewal policy been “clearly . . . visible, articulated, defined,” and that he did not learn that the membership had been auto-renewed until after the second renewal had already occurred. Sanderson Dep. at 134:4–13, 192:4–15. B. Procedural History The operative SAC asserts three causes of action arising from the same alleged ARL noncompliance: violation of the False Advertising Law (“FAL”) (Cause of Action 1), violation of the Unfair Competition Law (“UCL”) (Cause of Action 2), and violation of the Consumers Legal Remedies Act (“CLRA”) (Cause of Action 3). SAC ¶¶ 80–118. Critically for the summary judgment motions, the FAL and UCL claims seek restitution and injunctive relief, and the CLRA claim seeks damages and, as originally pled, equitable relief as well.2 The ARL itself affords no private right of action, so each cause of action proceeds as a vehicle for ARL-based liability. In early-2025, the Court certified a class of “[a]ll persons in California who purchased a Whoop Membership through the Whoop website, were enrolled in [Whoop’s] automatically renewing Whoop Membership subscription, and were automatically renewed and charged for at least one renewal term after their initial membership or commitment period ended, during the applicable statute of limitations.” Order Certifying Class (Dkt. 63) at 2–3, 33. The Court also certified a subclass of “[a]ll members of the Class who 2 As discussed in further detail below, Plaintiff now stipulates that he “does not oppose dismissal of his claims for equitable relief . . . under the CLRA (as to equitable restitution only), and his were automatically renewed and charged for at least one renewal term that they did not use.” Id. at 3, 33. The Court denied certification of an injunctive-relief class under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(b)(2), finding that “Plaintiff’s primary form of requested relief is monetary.” Id. at 32–33. C. Whoop Disclosures and Plaintiff’s Membership History Whoop’s membership checkout flow has used substantially the same structure since 2019: a consumer selects a membership option, enters payment information, and clicks a “Place Order” button. The ARL disclaimer only appears beneath the “Place Order” button, and states:

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Donrick Sanderson v. Whoop, Inc., (N.D. Cal. 2026).

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