Following a trial in Colorado federal court that ended on December 13, the jury issued a verdict (PDF) determining Sunbeam and Newell were liable for failure to warn, defective design and negligence.
The jury awarded Perez $2 million for physical impairment, $3.5 million for noneconomic damages, and then added an additional $15 million against Sunbeam and $35 million against Newell in punitive damages.
The jury determined that Sunbeam was 27% responsible for Perez’s injuries, Newell was 63% responsible, and that Perez was only 10% responsible for what happened.
The pressure cooker model Perez used was part of a Crock-Pot Multi-Cooker recall issued a little more than a year after her incident. The recall affected more than 1 million products, after more than 100 reports of the lids detaching due to pressure inside the devices, resulting in similar burns and injuries.
It has been followed by similarly massive recalls in recent years. Last year, a Best Buy Insignia pressure cooker recall was announced for nearly 1 million devices, and a Sensio pressure cooker recall pulled about 900,000 devices off store shelves. Both were linked to pressure cooker explosions linked to failures of the lid safety designs.
Given design problems linked to products sold by various manufacturers, including Ninja Foodi, Instant Pot, Crock Pot and others, financial compensation may be available to those who have suffered injuries due to pressure cooker explosions. Pressure cooker injury lawyers provide free consultations to help determine whether individuals nationwide are eligible to pursue a lawsuit.