Suit: Crock Pot Pressure Cooker defect causes explosions

A manufacturing defect causes the Crock-Pot Express Pressure Cooker to unexpectedly cause its scalding hot contents to explode and burn users, according to a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The suit, which seeks class-action status, says the machines were built with a defective pressure release valve that inaccurately indicates that pressure built up during the cooking process has escaped and that the cooker is safe to open.

The defect also includes a faulty gasket that enables users to open the lid while the contents are still under pressure. That should not be possible according to claims by the cooker's manufacturer, Boca Raton-based Sunbeam Products Inc., that a safety feature prevents opening until all pressure is released, the suit states.

The suit against Sunbeam was filed by Varnell & Warwich, P.A. of Lady Lake, in conjunction with Chicago-based attorney Michael R. Karnuth, and Antonio Vazzolo of Upper Saddle River, N.J.

Officials of Sunbeam parent Newell Brands did not respond to requests for comment about the suit on Wednesday.

The complaint states that one of the suit's two named plaintiffs, Kimberly Rife, of Romeoville, Ill., carefully followed instructions in the owner's guide when making chicken and rice soup for her family in January 2018, shortly after buying the cooker.

"After the cooking process was complete, Mrs. Rife released pressure via the steam release valve and watched until the steam stopped and pressed the stop button. Mrs. Rife also waited many minutes afterward before attempting to open the lid," the suit states.

But Rife didn't know that "as a result of the defect," a "significant" and "dangerous" amount of pressure remained, according to the suit. It added that despite a safety device that was supposed to prevent the lid from opening while the cooker retained pressure, "Rife was able to easily remove the lid."

When she twisted and removed the lid, the cooker's "scalding hot contents exploded out of the pot, spraying her hand, wrist and stomach, and her surrounding kitchen area," the suit states.

Janet Varnell, one of the plaintiffs attorneys, said Rife was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where she was treated for first- and second-degree burns.

Among hundreds of positive reviews for the product on Amazon.com, five users reported in 2018 that they were injured by unexpected explosions.

"After 2 months this product exploded on my daughter, leaving her with 2nd degree burns on her face and chest," one review said.

The suit seeks unspecified damages against Sunbeam for failing to inform consumers about alleged design defects and what it calls "misstatements and omissions" about the safety and quality of the pressure cookers.

"We have reasonable basis to believe this particular product has an inherent defect," Varnell said in an interview with the South Florida Sun Sentinel. "You should never have a steam-fueled bomb on your stove top with a failed safety mechanism that would cause it to explode."

If certified as a class, all purchasers and users of Crock-Pot Pressure Cookers would be given the opportunity to be named as plaintiffs in the suit.

No recall for the product is listed on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's website. But after attorneys working with Varnell filed a Freedom of Information request with the commission seeking all records relating to the Crock-Pot Express, the commission denied the request, saying it would interfere with its pending investigation into the product, a copy of the letter provided by Varnell states.

In 2015, more than 1,100 pressure cookers made by rival Instant Pot were recalled because a thermal probe in its base could conduct electricity throughout the appliance, posing a risk of electric shock.

In 2018, a fictional depiction of a Crock-Pot slow cooker shorting out and igniting a deadly house fire on the TV show "This Is Us" angered the show's fans so much that Crock-Pot officials created a Twitter campaign to defend the product's safety.

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