Farberware Pressure Cooker Lawsuit Filed Against Walmart Over Severe Burn Injuries

Lawsuit joins a series of similar complaints, which allege that electronic pressure cookers exploded due to defective lid designs, ejecting scalding hot contents.

A Louisiana woman has filed a product liability lawsuit against Walmart, indicating that she suffered substantial burn injuries when the lid unexpectedly exploded off of a Farberware pressure cooker, which is sold exclusively through the retail giant.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Chelsa Bernadette Mayo in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on August 8, naming Walmart Inc. as the sole defendant.

Farberware pressure cookers from Walmart are part of a newer generation of electric model pressure cookers promoted for their built-in safety mechanisms, such as technology designed to keep the lid locked while the contents are pressurized. These features are meant to reduce the risk of sudden explosions once linked to older models. However, serious questions have been raised in recent years about the effectiveness of the safety features.

The case filed by Mayo comes amid a number of pressure cooker explosion lawsuits being brought against manufacturers of other popular brands, including SharkNinja, Crock-Pot, Instant Pot and others. Each of the complaints raise similar allegations that the advertised safety features failed to prevent pressure cooker explosions, which left users with severe and sometimes permanent burn injuries.

In her lawsuit, Mayo indicates that she purchased a Farberware 7-in-1 programmable pressure cooker from a Walmart Supercenter located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, particularly due to the safety features advertised by the company in the product owner’s manual.

The complaint states that on September 7, 2024, the lid of Mayo’s Farberware pressure cooker exploded off the device during normal use, ejecting scalding contents onto Mayo, and causing her to suffer severe and substantial burn injuries.

Mayo claims this occurred because the pressure cooker’s lid could be rotated and removed while the unit was still pressurized, which allowed the scalding contents to be violently ejected, despite Walmart promoting the cooker as having safeguards to prevent the lid from unlocking until pressure was fully released.

According to Mayo, the malfunction was a direct result of the product’s negligent and defective design by Walmart, which not only sold the pressure cooker but also played a significant role in its design, marketing and distribution. Mayo adds that the company knew or should have known about the lid defect yet continued selling the cooker without issuing a recall or adequate warnings to consumers.

“[T]he aforementioned pressure cooker was defectively and negligently designed in that it failed to properly function as to prevent the lid from being rotated, opened, or removed with normal force while the unit remained pressurized, during the ordinary, foreseeable and proper use of cooking food with the product; placing the Plaintiff and similar consumers in danger while using the pressure cookers.”

-Chelsa Bernadette Mayo v. Walmart, Inc.

The complaint indicates that Mayo suffered severe burns, physical pain, mental anguish, permanent scarring and other lasting effects, as well as significant medical expenses, as a result of her injuries.

Mayo is raising her allegations pursuant to the Louisiana Products Liability Act, LSA-R.S. 9:2800.52, et. seq. She is seeking injuries and damages for herself, in addition to demanding a jury trial.

Pressure Cooker Recalls and Lawsuits

While Walmart has not issued any Farberware pressure cooker recalls, similar problems have resulted in several major recalls by other manufacturers and retailers in recent years.

In 2023, a Best Buy Insignia pressure cooker recall was announced that impacted nearly 1 million devices sold at stores throughout the U.S., and a Sensio pressure cooker recall pulled about 900,000 devices off store shelves that same year. Both recalls were linked to pressure cooker explosions caused by failures of the lid safety designs.

Hundreds of incidents have been reported where users suffered severe pressure cooker buns when the lid suddenly exploded off during normal use, covering those near the malfunctioning device with scalding hot contents.

Given similar design problems linked to products sold by various manufacturers, including Farberware, Ninja Foodi, Instant Pot and others, financial compensation may be available to individuals who have suffered injuries as the result of an explosion. Pressure cooker injury lawyers provide free consultations to help determine those who may be eligible to pursue a lawsuit.

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