Weight Watchers Faces Claims Over Subscription Auto-Renewals

WW International Inc. must keep defending a proposed class suit alleging it violated California law by automatically renewing subscriptions to its weight management services, because a customer plausibly alleged it didn’t give proper notice about how to cancel, a federal court said.

Lee Morrell bought a three-month membership that provides meal tracking and wellness support in January 2018. Three months later, WW—formerly Weight Watchers—automatically renewed his subscription, charging him the standard monthly rate of $19.95, and auto-renewed it again for the next 16 months, he says.

Morrell, who became ill in January 2018 with an auto-immune disorder that prevented him ...