Igloo Cooler Recall Lawsuit Alleges Defective Tow Handle Caused Fingertip Amputation

Recall was issued in February 2025 after reports that certain Igloo cooler tow handles could pinch, crush and amputate consumers’ fingertips.

A California man has filed a product liability lawsuit alleging he suffered crushing injuries, nerve damage and partial amputation to his finger when an Igloo cooler handle pinched his hand.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Eric Daniel Cooke in California Superior Court on August 20, naming Igloo Products Corp. and Target Corporation as defendants. The case was removed to the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on September 10.

Cooke claims Igloo and Target sold an unreasonably dangerous product without adequate warnings and failed to use safer alternative designs that could have reduced the risk of injury.

Igloo Cooler Recall

Igloo’s Flip and Tow 90-Quart Roller Cooler features an articulating tow handle designed to fold and pivot as the cooler is pulled.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a recall of more than 1 million Igloo Flip and Tow Coolers in February 2025, after receiving reports that consumers’ fingertips could become pinched between the tow handle and the cooler, posing crushing and amputation hazards. The recall was later expanded to include at least 1.2 million units.

These types of injuries have already resulted in several lawsuits. In a complaint filed last month, a California man claims he suffered a finger amputation after the cooler’s handle crushed his finger, causing nerve damage and ultimately requiring part of his fingertip to be amputated.

Igloo Cooler Injury Allegations

According to the lawsuit, Cooke was unloading an Igloo Flip and Tow 90-Quart Roller Cooler from the bed of a pickup truck in Rancho Cucamonga, California, on May 24, 2025, when he grabbed the pull handle.

Cooke claims his finger became trapped in an unguarded pinch point between the articulating handle and the cooler frame. As the hinge closed, the mechanism crushed his finger and amputated the fingertip on his dominant right hand.

The lawsuit indicates Cooke also suffered a finger fracture and a deep laceration that exposed underlying tissue. Surgeons attempted to reattach the fingertip, but the tissue later developed necrosis and could not be saved.

Cooke says the injury left his hand permanently disfigured and caused chronic pain and tenderness, reduced grip strength and lasting impairment of his dominant hand.

The complaint alleges the Igloo cooler was defectively designed and unreasonably dangerous for consumers, despite safer alternative designs that could have reduced or eliminated the pinch-point hazard.

Cooke also claims Igloo and Target failed to provide adequate warnings about the risk that consumers’ fingers could become trapped and crushed by the articulating tow handle.

“The Product was unreasonably defective in its design; it was not suitable for its intended purpose and any warnings or instructions for the use of The Product were themselves deficient and defective and failed to properly warn such users and consumers, including Plaintiff; of the dangerous and defective character of The Product.”

— Eric Daniel Cooke v. Igloo Products Corp. et al.

The lawsuit raises allegations of general negligence, breach of implied warranty and strict product liability. It seeks compensation for physical, mental and emotional pain and suffering, worry and anxiety, past and future medical expenses, including surgical and medical care, general damages and special damages.

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