Nexgrill Class Action Lawsuit Alleges Manufacturer Botched Grill Brush Recall

Lawsuit claims company knew wire bristles could detach for years before recalling more than 10 million grill brushes.

An Oregon man has filed a class action lawsuit alleging Nexgrill implemented an inadequate recall program that fails to fully compensate consumers for millions of defective grill brushes with dangerous wire bristles.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Woodrow Russell in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on June 8, naming Nexgrill Industries Inc. as the defendant.

Russell is seeking to represent consumers nationwide who purchased Nexgrill metal wire grill brushes that were recalled earlier this year.

Wire Grill Brush Recalls

According to the lawsuit, a Nexgrill wire brush recall was issued on March 26, covering about 10.2 million grill brushes sold at Home Depot stores and online between 2015 and 2026. The recall followed reports that small metal bristles could detach during use, stick to food or grill surfaces, and potentially be swallowed by consumers. 

The Nexgrill recall is separate from an earlier Weber grill brush recall issued in February, which removed more than 3.2 million wire bristle brushes from the market. In that case, federal regulators indicated they had received nearly 40 reports of injuries linked to the recalled grill brushes.

In the wake of the recall, a number of Weber Grill Brush lawsuits have been filed in courts nationwide. In many cases, plaintiffs allege that Weber knew about the danger of bristles detaching from brushes, yet the company failed to disclose the risk or issue a timely recall to prevent additional injuries from occurring.

Nexgrill Defective Recall Allegations

Russell alleges Nexgrill was aware of the defect long before the recall was announced, yet continued selling the products despite mounting evidence that detached bristles posed a serious safety risk. The lawsuit points to consumer complaints, injury reports and public warnings issued over the past decade about the dangers associated with wire-bristle grill brushes.

The complaint notes that federal health officials published warnings about injuries caused by ingested grill brush bristles as early as 2012, while consumer safety organizations and media outlets continued highlighting the hazard in subsequent years. Despite those warnings, Russell claims Nexgrill continued marketing the brushes as safe, reliable and durable.

Russell says he purchased a Nexgrill Long Handle Grill Brush from a Home Depot store in Grants Pass, Oregon sometime between 2019 and 2020. He says he used the brush to clean his grill until bristles began detaching from the product, prompting him to stop using it.

The lawsuit maintains that the recall itself is inadequate because consumers are not offered a cash refund or replacement product. Instead, Russell claims consumers must navigate a multi-step process requiring them to obtain a registration code, upload photographs of the recalled brush and wait for approval before receiving a gift card.

Russell argues that a gift card does not provide full compensation for consumers who paid cash for the products and does not account for the time and effort required to participate in the recall process.

The complaint further alleges that the recall was structured in a way that minimizes participation because only consumers who still possess the brush may seek compensation. As a result, the lawsuit claims many purchasers who discarded the products before the recall was announced have been left without any remedy.

“The Recall is ineffective as it provides the Plaintiff only a gift card refund and offers no replacement product comparable to the Product he purchased, it does not provide a cash monetary refund to Plaintiff but rather allows him to receive a gift card refund after complying with burdensome recall requirements that do not provide complete relief for the defective Product he purchased.”

— Woodrow Russell v. Nexgrill Industries Inc.

The complaint raises allegations of unjust enrichment, fraud, negligence and violations of California consumer protection laws, including the state’s Unfair Competition Law and Consumers Legal Remedies Act. It seeks damages and other relief on behalf of consumers nationwide, as well as a California subclass.

If certified, the lawsuit could include hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of consumers who purchased the recalled grill brushes over the past decade.

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