Ninja Foodi Recall Lawsuit Alleges Pressure Cooker Explosion Risks Were Known by SharkNinja

Company issued a “grossly deficient” recall, refusing to fix any issues with the products’ defective lids and transferring liability to consumers, lawsuit claims.

A California woman has filed a class action lawsuit against SharkNinja, claiming that the company has deceptively marketed its Ninja Foodi pressure cookers, which have exposed hundreds of thousands of consumers to serious health risks when they use the product, which is now virtually worthless after a recall issued earlier this month.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Lauren Wolf-Bond in The U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts on May 9, naming SharkNinja Operating LLC as the sole defendant.

SharkNinja’s Ninja Foodi pressure cooker is one of several modern electronic pressure cookers, which have been marketed in recent years with claims that they feature advanced safety technology designed to prevent the lids from being removed while the contents are under pressure. This acclaimed 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.

However, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced a SharkNinja pressure cooker recall on May 1, indicating that the manufacturer had become aware of at least 106 burn injury reports related to Ninja Foodi pressure cooker lids opening while still under pressure, with 50 of those injuries involving  second- and third-degree burns.

As many manufacturers have marketed their pressure cookers as having advanced lid safety mechanisms, a steadily growing number of pressure cooker lawsuits have plagued SharkNinja, Crock-Pot and Instant Pot in recent years, alleging that these safety features failed, allowing the lids to open while contents were still under intense pressure, resulting in serious burn injuries.

In her lawsuit, Wolf-Bond indicates that she purchased a Ninja Foodi OP300 Series Multi-Function Pressure Cooker for approximately $159 in May 2021, prior to the company’s recall of the product issued earlier this month.

However, once Wolf-Bond learned of the recall, she says that she immediately stopped using the SharkNinja product, due to the stated risk of second- and third-degree burns, which she and others could have suffered from it.

Furthermore, Wolf-Bond indicates that she never would have purchased the pressure cooker if she had known of the defect, which SharkNinja either knew about, or should have known about from pre-market tests, quality assurance protocols, customer complaints, warranty claims or other internal analyses.

“Defendant’s engineering, product development, quality control, and executive teams had access to data and testing results that revealed or would have revealed the Defect long before the recall was issued,” the complaint says. “Yet, Defendant concealed this information while continuing to market and sell the Defective Product.”

Wolf-Bond raises allegations of breach of implied warranty of merchantability, unjust enrichment, and violation of California’s Consumer Legal Remedies Act, Unfair Competition Law and False Advertising Law.

She is seeking class action status for her lawsuit, including a subclass for California residents, and is pursuing compensatory, statutory, actual and monetary damages on behalf of herself and others similarly affected. In addition, she is requesting an injunction that would require SharkNinja to stop the practices outlined in the complaint, recall all defective pressure cookers, and issue a public disclosure warning consumers about the defect.

Pressure Cooker Injury Lawsuits

In addition to Wolf-Bond’s class action complaint, at least 26 lawsuits have been filed against SharkNinja, as a result of injuries sustained from defective pressure cooker lids. Many of these complaints raise similar allegations that users suffered from serious burn injuries when the product’s lid exploded off a Ninja Foodi pressure cooker during normal use, spraying them with scalding hot contents.

One complaint filed by Ashley Ryan Diggins in December 2022, indicates that SharkNinja markets its pressure cookers as having “14 safety features,” which are supposed to prevent these kinds of explosions from happening. However, Diggins says her Ninja Foodi pressure cooker was defective and negligently designed, which caused it to malfunction, allowing the lid to come off during pressurized operation.

In another lawsuit filed approximately one year ago, Sydney Colvin indicates she suffered severe and disfiguring burn injuries when the lid of her Ninja Foodi pressure cooker blew off unexpectedly.

Due to these kinds of design flaws, pressure cooker injury lawyers are offering free case evaluations to help individuals who suffered burns or other injuries from Ninja Foodi, Instant Pot, Crock-Pot or other pressure cooker models determine whether they may be eligible to file a claim and seek financial compensation.