$9.1M Pressure Cooker Lawsuit Payout Upheld for Burn Injury Victim

Judge reduced the jury’s original verdict of $55.5 damages, for a woman who suffered severe burns to 13% of her body after her Crock-Pot Express exploded.

A federal judge has reduced a Colorado jury’s award of $55.5 million in a pressure cooker lawsuit, but did order that the manufacturers to payout $9.1 million in damages to woman who suffered second- and third-degree burn injuries when her Crock-Pot pressure cooker exploded.

Georgina Perez of Denver filed the original complaint (PDF) against Sunbeam Products, Newell Brands, Inc., and Target Corporation in June 2023, alleging that her Crock Pot Express Multi-Cooker exploded four years earlier, spraying her with boiling hot contents when the lid came off while pressure was still built up within the pot.

Pressure Cooker Lawsuits

Crock Pots are among many different modern electronic pressure cookers that have been marketed in recent years with claims that they feature advanced safety technology, which are designed to prevent the lids from being removed while the contents are still pressurized. This safeguard is critical for consumer safety, as premature lid removal can cause the superheated contents to explode outward, resulting in severe burns and other serious injuries.

Perez’s case has been closely watched as a bellwether for how juries may respond in hundreds of similar pressure cooker lawsuits being pursued against Sunbeam and manufacturers of other popular products, including Crock-Pots, Instant Pots and Ninja Foodi devices. Each of the claims raise similar allegations that the manufacturers made false and misleading marketing claims, and sold devices that contained dangerous design defects that make the devices unsafe.

Perez indicates she was cooking beans on the day her pressure cooker exploded. When she went to press the steam release 20 minutes after the beans were supposedly done, her Crock Pot exploded, spewing hot contents across her face and chest. Perez says that she was following the user manual’s directions at the time of the explosion.

As a result of the explosion, Perez suffered burns across 13% of her body and had to receive extensive skin grafts. In addition, her sweat glands were damaged, meaning it is now difficult to regulate her temperature.

Pressure Cooker Lawsuit Award

In December 2024, a jury awarded $55.5 million to Perez in both compensatory and exemplary damages from defendants Sunbeam Products and Newell Brands for her injuries.

However, following post-trial motions, Judge Brimmer issued an order (PDF) on May 29, stating that Perez did not show that the state of Colorado’s statutory damages cap should be waived in this instance.

According to Judge Brimmer, Colorado law caps noneconomic damages at $250,000 for each defendant, or $468,010 when adjusted for inflation. Perez argued in post-trial motions that the court should apply the increased cap of $936,030 to each defendant, but the judge found her injuries did not meet the threshold for an exception.

As a result of the judge’s ruling, the Court has determined that:

• Sunbeam Products Inc. is ordered to pay:
  • $1,677,695.22 in actual damages
  • $1,677,695.22 in exemplary damages
• Newell Brands, Inc. is ordered to pay:
  • $2,876,037.07 in actual damages
  • $2,876,037.07 in exemplary damages

This resulted in a total award of $9.1 million in actual and exemplary damages, including statutory interest, being paid to Perez by defendants Sunbeam Products and Newell Brands.

Given similar design problems linked to products sold by various manufacturers, including Crock-Pot, Ninja Foodi, Instant Pot and others, financial compensation may be available to many individuals 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.