When a malfunctioning home appliance changes your life, it’s essential to know where to turn.
If that situation sounds implausible, it’s not – in fact, for Gina Perez and many others, it’s become an agonizing reality. After suffering second- and third-degree burns when her pressure cooker exploded in 2019, Perez was recently able to hold the device’s manufacturers accountable in court, securing a $55.5 million verdict with the help of personal injury lawyers at Burg Simpson.
Perez’s life-altering injuries and defective product lawsuit victory show the importance of securing experienced, resourced Product Liability attorneys — like the ones at Colorado’s Burg Simpson — when you’re up against a big corporation with an injury from their product. Here’s what to know about her case — and what to do if you find yourself in a similar situation.
What Happened to Gina Perez?
In 2017, Sunbeam Products was under pressure to create a product that could compete with the hugely successful Instant Pot. Sunbeam’s resulting pressure cooker promised similar results: a convenient way to get dinner on the table quickly.
However, within three weeks of the product’s release, Sunbeam heard from customers whose pressurized pots had exploded when they tried to release steam. The explosions shot out 250-degree food and water that fell and burned users.
The horrifying injuries happened because the cooker was pressurizing even when its lid was not properly locked, a malfunction that should have been impossible. Despite knowing the product was defective and replicating customers’ explosions in tests, Sunbeam and its parent company, Newell, told the Consumer Product Safety Commission that the product didn’t need to be recalled and that user error was causing the issue.
In June 2019, Burg Simpson client Perez had just used her Sunbeam pressure cooker to make beans at home and touched the cooker to release the pressure and retrieve her beans.
The device exploded, shooting out beans and water that landed all over her head, torso, and arms at a smoldering 250 degrees and caused second- and third-degree burns on 13% of her body. A burn specialist had to give Perez 2 square feet of cadaver allograft, along with morphine and Oxycodone, to help her through the process.
Today, years after her accident, Perez has permanent scarring on her face, chest, arms, and neck that still causes her physical issues and emotional distress.
How Did Burg Simpson Step in?
Burg Simpson took on Perez’s defective product lawsuit and won big for its client, forcing a measure of accountability on Sunbeam and Newell for their disregard for consumer safety.
Despite Perez’s suffering in June 2019 — and although manufacturers had also received over 100 other reports of lid issues and 99 reports of burn injuries like the ones Perez sustained — Sunbeam and Newell didn’t issue a recall on the pressure cooker until late 2020. When Burg Simpson argued Perez’s case, Sunbeam and Newell tried to argue that her accident was due to her own failure to lock the cooker’s lid — a lid they already knew was malfunctioning.
Because the experienced product liability attorneys at Burg Simpson fought for her in court, Perez received $3.5 million for pain and suffering, $2 million for her disfigurement, $15 million in punitive damages against Sunbeam, and $35 million against Newell. The jury assigned apportionment of fault as follows: Newell- 63%, Sunbeam- 27%, and Ms. Perez- 10%.
What if I Think I Have a Defective Product Lawsuit?
Unfortunately, Sunbeam and Newell are not the only companies that have recalled a pressure cooker design after explosions. Other companies with pending litigation, recalls, or consumer complaints include Instant Pot, SharkNinja, and Cuisinart.
If you own a slow or pressure cooker, check the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s online recalls and safety warnings page to make sure your product isn’t a hazard.
If you, like Perez, sustain a damaging pressure cooker injury, Burg Simpson recommends taking the following steps:
- Document your situation immediately. After you are hurt, make sure you or someone on your behalf, takes pictures and video of the scene and any injuries, then immediately go to the hospital or doctor if necessary. Make sure to keep the malfunctioning pressure cooker since it’s easier to seek legal help for defective products when you have the physical evidence on hand.
- Seek legal help right away. If you wait too long to make your case, the statute of limitations can run out, and physical evidence can degrade.
- Work with an experienced firm like Burg Simpson. In a consumer safety lawsuit against a large company, lesser representation may allow you to get pressured into a lesser product liability settlement. However, a team like Michael Burg, Holly Kammerer, and Shane Fulton — the Burg Simpson representation who won Perez’s case — can show the defense that you’re willing and ready to go to trial and win. These attorneys were able to show that Sunbeam and Newell knew about their pressure cooker’s design defects even before Perez bought her cooker and that they acted with reckless disregard for customer safety.
If you’re ready to go up against a national corporation in a defective product lawsuit, you need a firm that has the experience and record to fight for you. Burg Simpson’s Product Liability attorneys are ready to give you a free, confidential case evaluation online or at (303) 790-2525.
The news and editorial staffs of The Denver Post had no role in this post’s preparation.
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