Power Pressure Cooker XL Lawsuit

Update

Order to Dismiss Motion and Compel Arbitration Denied in Johnson//Becker Pressure Cooker Lawsuit

On May 22, 2024, a Federal Judge denied Tristar Products, Inc.’s motion to enforce an arbitration agreement alleged to accompany its pressure cookers. Learn more about the Order below.

In this product liability suit involving an alleged defective pressure cooker, Amphai Sourya Ranslem v. Tristar Products, Inc. Case No. 3:24cv41-TKW-HTC, the Defendant, Tristar Products, Inc., claimed that the lawsuit should be dismissed based on the arbitration agreement allegedly included in the box with the pressure cooker. The plaintiff and her attorneys at Johnson Becker filed an Opposition, arguing that she had never seen the agreement because Ms. Ranslem did not purchase the pressure cooker. The Court agreed, stating, “A party is not obligated to arbitrate a dispute under an arbitration agreement that the party did not assent to.” The order also stated, “The plain language of the arbitration agreement tied the acceptance of the agreement to purchasing the pressure cooker, not using it.” Tristar Products, Inc. must now respond to Ms. Ranslem’s claim and proceed with the litigation.

Power Pressure Cooker History

Power Pressure Cooker might not be your grandparents’ rickety stovetop pressure cooker, but its marketing strategy would look familiar to them.

Many leading manufacturers market their electric pressure cookers through social media and sell them on Amazon.com. Power Pressure Cooker is sold in a more traditional manner, reaching couchbound consumers through television.

Eric Theiss, a TV pitchman and “culinary expert,” has exhibited the Power Pressure Cooker on both infomercials and the QVC home shopping network. Theiss and his companions marvel at the device’s speed, ease, and the variety of meals it produces.

Theiss and manufacturers have also raved about the Power Pressure Cooker’s purported safety features, the very same ones which would later become the subject of numerous lawsuits against the pressure cooker’s manufacturer.

Special Note From Attorney Michael Johnson

Our law firm has extensive experience representing injured burn victims against manufacturers of defective pressure cookers like the Power Pressure Cooker. In the last four years, our lawyers have represented over 700 people in more than 40 states who have been severely burned by exploding pressure cookers.

To contact us for a Free Case Evaluation, please visit our contact form or dial (800) 279-6386.

Power Pressure Cooker Safety Claims

As Theiss tells viewers of one YouTube video:

“What happens when your pressure cooker is up to pressure is the lid locks on. I couldn’t get this lid open if I wanted to. There’s no way to open it. It’s loaded with safety features, so if you’ve never used a pressure cooker before, this is one of the safest ones you can get.”

In another video, a spokesman describes the Power Pressure Cooker as “extremely easy and safe to use,” stating that even if “human error or mechanical malfunction occur, using the Power Pressure Cooker XL is always safe.” In yet another clip, the same employee of Tristar, manufacturer of Power Pressure Cookers, states flatly: “There’s no safer way to cook.”

More than three million people who later joined in a class action lawsuit against the Power Pressure Cooker’s manufacturer disagreed.

Power Pressure Cooker Class Action Lawsuit

According to the lawsuit, numerous design flaws could cause the lid to a Power Pressure Cooker to open before it was depressurized.

The lawsuit covered more than a dozen models of Power Pressure Cooker sold between March 1, 2013 and January 19, 2018. In a controversial settlement, Tristar offered consumers only a $72.50 credit toward one of several of its products, provided consumers watched or read the company’s self-produced safety material.

Importantly, that lawsuit applied only to people who had purchased a potentially unsafe Power Pressure Cooker, but not someone who had actually been injured using one. And many people have.

Power Pressure Cooker Burn Injuries

Johnson//Becker is aware of more than 150 injuries caused by malfunctioning Power Pressure Cooker devices.

Incidents caused by defective Power Pressure Cooker devices have resulted in trips to the emergency room, doctor’s offices and a long road to recovery. Victims of faulty Power Pressure Cookers have endured extreme pain, both in the moment of explosion and long after the incident, and have lost time at work, socializing, and with their families.

Potential damages that can be caused by an exploding pressure cooker include:

• First-, Second-, and Third-Degree Burns
• Doctor Visits and/or Hospitalization
• Infection
• Skin Grafts
• Lost Time from Work
• Permanent Scarring and/or Disfigurement
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Power Pressure Cooker Litigation Guide

Interested in downloading our Pressure Cooker Litigation Guide? Learn more about the pressure cooker litigation team at Johnson//Becker and Meet the Attorney and Co-Chair of our Consumer Products and Mass Tort Department.

Power Pressure Cooker Lawsuits Filed by Johnson//Becker

As our lawyers stated in one recent Power Pressure Cooker lawsuit filing, we believe that Power Pressure Cooker’s manufacturer Sunbeam “continues to ignore and/or conceal its knowledge of the pressure cookers’ defects from the general public and continues to generate a substantial profit from the sale of its pressure cookers, demonstrating a callous, reckless, willful, depraved indifference to the health, safety and welfare of… consumers.”

Johnson//Becker’s research has uncovered dozens of complaints about the Power Pressure Cooker to the Consumer Products Safety Commission, the agency tasked with regulating consumer products and issuing recalls or bans.

Among those incidents, as described by the victims:

• “My ‘Power Pressure Cooker’ exploded with fire hot chicken soup in it, covering my entire kitchen, hitting m[e] in the head with a piece of chicken, and burning my arm. My 7 year old child and his friend had just came through the the [sic] kitchen not seconds before this happened.”
• “[O]n October 4, 2015 the pressure cooker had a bad malfunction[.] [T]he lid released when it was not suppose[d] to…I went to opened the pressure cooker and it exploded…I looked at my arm saw my skin coming off then I knew we had to go to the hospital.”
• “While using a Power Cooker Pressure Cooker as called for by the instructions the top exploded off and I received substantial second degree burns to my arm and chest. As a result of my injuries[,] I have suffered scarring and had to receive medical care and have incurred medical bills.”

Damage inflicted by one of Tristar’s Power Pressure Cookers is not just superficial or financial. One woman was forced to cancel a planned vacation to a sunny location and instructed not to wear makeup for one full year. Another victim lost interest in swimming, formerly a favorite hobby, after she suffered burn scarring to her torso. Another, a military veteran, “thought [she] was going to die” from her pressure cooker burns and suffered severe episodes of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) thereafter.

After Her Power Pressure Cooker Exploded, the Beach is Just a Memory

S.F. grew up a “beach bum,” an easy lifestyle to take on as a kid in the Venice Beach neighborhood of Los Angeles.

As an adult, S.F. still sought sunshine. An ordained minister and frequent counselor to troubled youth, she has often taken at-risk adolescents on outdoors excursions as a bonding experience.

These days, S.F. doesn’t feel like getting into a swimsuit. In fact, she hardly feels like leaving the house.

“As much as I used to be outgoing, I have panic attacks about going outside,” S.F. says.

The dramatic shift can be traced back to a day in September, 2020, when S.F. set about preparing a seafood soup the day before her birthday. S.F. grew up cooking with her mother, who had an open-door policy with hungry kids in the neighborhood, and has herself cooked for hundreds of people in various catering, restaurant, or charity settings.

“Give me any kind of dish, I can cook it,” she says.

S.F. prepared her birthday soup in her Power Pressure Cooker, which she had ordered after seeing an infomercial on television. S.F. had prior experience with pressure cookers, and knew how effective they were at cutting down cooking time on certain dishes. For some time, her Power Pressure Cooker fulfilled this role as expected.

S.F. remembers being so excited about the smell coming from the pressure cooker that she was literally skipping through the kitchen., The cooker exploded, its top flying off and the steaming-hot soup flying everywhere, including onto S.F.

“It happened so fast,” S.F. remembers. “I’m just glad I was able to turn my face.”

The next thing she knew, S.F. was on the other side of the room in excruciating pain, especially to one of her legs. She screamed and screamed, and her elderly godfather found her in severe distress and barely able to speak.

When emergency responders arrived, they cut S.F.’s pant leg off and saw that her burned skin was sticking to the pants, a sight that surprised even the paramedics. S.F., who is immunocompromised, was terrified to go to an emergency room during the COVID pandemic, but was given no choice.

At the hospital, doctors diagnosed second- and third-degree burns.

“They had three doctors working on me,” she says. “I didn’t realize until that moment how serious things were.”

Today, some two years later, S.F. says she’s still recovering from the burn injuries to her stomach and legs. Her skin is tender to the touch, and the scarring to her leg is significant and easily visible. Due to the risk of sun exposure, S.F. can no longer wear a swimsuit when she goes to a pool or beach. She wouldn’t want to, anyway.

“It looks like snakeskin,” she says. “I don’t feel good or sexy about the situation, as a woman.”

S.F. feels compelled to wear leggings even in bed, something she never would have done before she was burned.

“I don’t feel free,” she says. “I should feel that, but I don’t. I don’t feel beautiful.”

In promotional videos like the one that persuaded S.F., the Power Pressure Cooker is marketed as “loaded with safety features” and “extremely safe” to use. S.F. says prior to her accident, she wasn’t even aware pressure cookers could malfunction like this. Only after, as she did her research, did she realize what happened to her was more common than most people think.

S.F. feels that Tristar, the manufacturer of her Power Pressure Cooker, didn’t do its due diligence to make sure her appliance was safe for her home use. She says the company still markets its products to her. She’s not interested.

“It was more important for them to sell products, without telling people they were endangered,” she says. “They’re still making money.”

S.F. says she did not hesitate to find legal representation with Johnson//Becker to take action against the company responsible for her injuries. She first contacted the firm on her birthday, just one day after suffering her injuries.

“It was not a question,” S.F. says of her decision to retain legal counsel. “People need to know it’s OK to say you’ve been harmed, and to take the right steps to claim your rightful place in justice.”

In selecting Johnson//Becker, S.F. retained a firm that has handled more than 700 pressure cooker cases, including over 100 people injured by a Power Pressure Cooker. In a lawsuit filed last week, S.F. and her attorneys allege her pressure cooker was “defectively designed and manufactured,” and “unreasonably dangerous.”

S.F. looks back on her carefree beach days with a mixture of nostalgia and grief.

“I get sad thinking about it,” she says. “I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to do that anymore.”

Power Pressure Cooker Lawsuits Filed by Johnson//Becker

Though each Power Pressure Cooker case has its own facts and details, our law firm has repeatedly found what we are alleging are the same flaws in design and manufacturing leading to customer injuries.

Below is a list of just some of the more recent lawsuits our lawyers have filed against Power Pressure Cooker’s manufacturer. Please feel free to review the complaints to learn more.

August 8, 2024 – Johnson//Becker Files Lawsuit Against Tristar Products, Inc. in Florida Circuit Court Due to Power Pressure Cooker XL Injuries

Will my Power Pressure Cooker Lawsuit be Handled Individually or as Part of a Class Action Lawsuit?

Johnson//Becker will handle and file your case individually, giving your case the individual care and attention you deserve.  Our lawyers feel strongly that it is not in our clients’ best interest to file or join a class action lawsuit for two reasons.  First, class actions are designed to address damages that are usually economic in nature, not personal injuries, the severity and effect of which will vary from person to person. In other words, what is a fair resolution in one case may not be a fair resolution in another case.  In addition, in a class action, the control and decision-making process is consolidated with one “Class Representative”, who oversees making decisions for everyone in the class.  If that Class Representative is not you, someone you have never met and who has no incentive to put your best interests first will get to make the decisions that will affect your case.

Finally, we feel strongly that it is in our client’s best interest to file an individual lawsuit, as class action lawsuits in product liability personal injury cases typically result in far lower settlements.  At Johnson//Becker, PLLC our goal is to maximize compensation for our clients, and for this reason we only file individual lawsuits.

Questions about a Power Pressure Cooker Lawsuit? Contact a Johnson//Becker lawyer today for a free case review.

If you or a loved one has been injured by a defective Power Pressure Cooker, you may want to speak with the lawyers at Johnson//Becker. We are actively filing new Power Pressure Cooker lawsuits across the country, and you may be entitled to financial compensation for your defective pressure cooker injuries.

We offer a free case evaluation. Please contact us using the form below or by calling us at (800) 279-6386. We would be honored to speak with you and respond promptly to every inquiry we receive.

Free Case Evaluation

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