Class Action Lawsuit Claims Recalled Hot Spring Hot Tubs Contain Dangerous Jet Defect

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Watkins Wellness LLC and Watkins Manufacturing Corp. face a proposed class action lawsuit alleging that their Hot Spring-branded Highlife Collection hot tubs contain a dangerous jet defect that poses a significant safety hazard to consumers.  

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The 41-page defective product lawsuit alleges that the Highlife Collection spas suffer from a defect in the six-fin hydromassage rotary jets that creates a suction force, potentially entangling users’ hair and “submerging their head[s] underwater.” Per the suit, the defect results in an “unreasonably dangerous condition” for users and a “serious” drowning risk.

Per the filing, this defect exists in all model year 2023 to 2025 Highlife Collection spas, including the Grandee, Envoy, Vanguard, Aria, Prodigy, Sovereign, Jetsetter and Jetsetter LX models manufactured and sold between October 2022 and September 2025.

The case says that Watkins issued an “inadequate” recall on February 12, 2026 for the hot tubs at issue, affecting approximately 32,900 spas sold in the United States. The recall notice says Watkins has received at least one report of a consumer’s hair becoming entangled in the defective rotary jets, though no injuries have been reported. Owners of defective Hot Spring spas were instructed to “immediately” stop using the recalled jets, but the case says the recall came “far too late,” after the hot tubs were already purchased and used by “unsuspecting families.”

As the lawsuit explains, Watkins Wellness uses a “highly sophisticated” advertising and marketing campaign for its Highlife Collection hot tubs to imply that the spas are high quality, safe and reliable, including by promoting the “therapeutic benefits” of the hot tubs’ hydromassage rotary jets and claiming the spas offer “superior relaxation experiences.” Additionally, the Hot Spring brand bears the tagline “[e]very day made better,” the case says, which “[reinforces] the message that the Products would enhance consumers’ daily lives and well-being.”  The lawsuit states that none of these marketing materials contained a warning that the six-fin hydromassage rotary jets posed a hair entanglement risk.

Furthermore, Watkins offers consumers a “comprehensive” five-year warranty that covers the hydromassage rotary jets in Highlife Collection hot tubs, which the filing says led consumers to believe that the spas had been tested and were safe. The defendants additionally positioned themselves as “industry leaders” and emphasized their “decades of experience” in producing spa products, the case says.

Consumers reasonably relied on the company’s assurances of “superior” quality, safety and reliability, the lawsuit says, and Watkins allegedly “commanded premium prices” based on these representations, with Highlife Collection spas retailing for anywhere between $16,000 to $24,000, which the case says is “far more” than typical prices for hot tubs. Consumers who purchased the Highlife Collection hot tubs had reasonable expectations that the pricey spas would be safe and “free from life-threatening defects,” the lawsuit says. 

The suit explains that the February 12 recall “solely” provided consumers with replacement six-fin hydromassage rotary jets after “an undetermined amount of time” and required them to install the parts themselves through a “cumbersome, multi-step, and time-consuming process.”

The lawsuit alleges that putting the onus on consumers to fix the company’s mistakes is a clear violation of California’s Song-Beverly Consumer Warranty Act, which stipulates that manufacturers may not require consumers to complete their own repairs when a product is still under warranty. As the defective rotary jets were still covered by the five-year warranty, Watkins should have repaired them, the case argues.

To add insult to injury, the lawsuit says the recall provided no monetary compensation to consumers, even with the high price point of the Hot Spring Highlife Collection hot tubs.

“The free replacement jet inserts do nothing to compensate consumers for the loss in value of their products, which are now known to contain life-threatening defects that existed from the moment of manufacture and sale,” the lawsuit stresses.

Recalls without “full refunds or simple remedies” tend to have lower participation rates from consumers, the lawsuit says, claiming the inadequate Highlife Collection spa recall leaves “large numbers” of the dangerous hot tubs remaining in consumers’ possession.

The Hot Spring hot tub class action lawsuit looks to cover all individuals who purchased Highlife Collection spas with hydromassage rotary jets (6 fin) in the United States for personal use and not for resale within the applicable statute of limitations period.

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