Best Buy Recalled Pressure Cooker Caused Severe Burn Injuries After Lid Safety Features Failed

Lawsuit claims that if the Best Buy’s Insignia pressure cooker recall had been initiated earlier, plaintiff could have avoided serious burn injuries.

Best Buy faces a pressure cooker lawsuit brought by a Minnesota woman, who was severely burned when the lid was able to be removed while the contents were under pressure, despite the manufacturer’s assurances that its safety features would prevent such an incident.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Nierra Rosilla in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota on February 5, naming Best Buy Co., Inc. as the defendant, for selling a defective and unreasonably dangerous Insignia pressure cooker.

According to the lawsuit, Rosilla suffered “serious and substantial burn injuries” in September 2022, after she was able to open the pressure cooker while the contents were still pressurized, despite no outward indication that the steam had not all been released. As a result of removing the lid, the pressure cooker exploded and sprayed her with scalding hot contents.

Rosilla’s claim joins a number of similar pressure cooker lawsuits filed in recent months against manufacturers and retailers who sold defective modern electronic pressure cookers, each raising similar allegations that the devices are prone to explode when the lid is removed, even after the device indicates all steam has been released.

Modern electronic pressure cookers like the Best Buy Insignia pressure cooker have become popular in recent decades, amid marketing that has promoted advanced features that were supposed to prevent pressure cooker explosions that have plagued older, stove-top designs.

However, Rosilla’s lawsuit suggests that Best Buy was aware of the safety measures failing long before it issued an Insignia pressure cooker recall impacting more than 900,000 units on October 26, 2023. By that time, the manufacturer had already received at least 31 reports of incidents where the contents were expelled under pressure, including 17 reports of burn injuries, some involving second-degree and severe burns.

Rosilla’s lawsuit asserts that had Best Buy acted more swiftly to recall the defective pressure cookers, her injuries could have been prevented.

“Defendant knew or should have known of these defects but has nevertheless put profit ahead of safety by continuing to sell its pressure cookers to consumers, failing to warn said consumers of the serious risks posed by the defects, and failing to recall the dangerously defective pressure cookers regardless of the risk of significant injuries to Plaintiff and consumers like her,” the lawsuit states. “As a direct and proximate result of Defendant’s conduct, the Plaintiff in this case incurred significant and painful bodily injuries, medical expenses, lost wages, physical pain, mental anguish, and diminished enjoyment of life.”

Rosilla’s lawsuit claims that the allegedly false advertising about the safety measures are more than misleading, calling them “flatly wrong,” and noting that they put consumers in harm’s way. The lawsuit presents claims of strict liability, defective design, failure to warn and negligence.