Pressure Cooker Explosion Lawsuit Alleges Recalled Crock-Pot Caused Severe Burn Injuries

Despite a Crock-Pot recall issued four years prior, a newer device displayed the same safety problems that resulted in a pressure cooker explosion that left woman with severe burn injuries.

A Maryland woman has filed a product liability lawsuit alleging she suffered severe burns and other injuries after scalding food was ejected from a Crock-Pot Express multicooker, when the pressure cooker safety features failed and allowed the lid to be removed while there was still intense pressure built up inside the device.

The complaint (PDF) was brought by Evelyn Thomas in the U.S. District Court for the District of Georgia on June 16, pursuing damages from Sunbeam Products Inc. and Newell Brands Inc. as the defendants.

Thomas claims the companies put profit over safety by continuing to sell the Crock-Pot pressure cooker, after receiving more than 100 similar reports of burn injuries and the device opening while still under pressure.

Pressure Cooker Explosion Risks

The Crock-Pot Express Multicooker is a consumer kitchen appliance that uses high pressure to rapidly cook food. Like other electric pressure cooker brands, it is designed with safety features intended to prevent the lid from opening while the device is pressurized.

However, in recent years, hundreds of burn injuries have been reported by consumers after electric pressure cookers have failed to keep the lids on during pressurization. The reports have impacted various major brands, including Crock-Pot, Instant Pot, Ninja and many others.

In the reports, consumers allege safety features failed on electric pressure cooker lids due to design defects of the devices. As a result, a number of pressure cooker injury lawsuits have been filed in recent years involving similar allegations due to the growing number of injuries that consumers have faced.

Crock-Pot Explosion Allegations

Thomas alleges she was using the Crock-Pot pressure cooker in July 2024 when she was able to remove the lid while the contents were still under pressure. 

Her claim indicates that despite safety features intended to prevent the lid from opening under those conditions, she was able to remove it, unaware the contents were still pressurized. This allowed scalding food and liquid to explode onto her body. The Crock-Pot pressure cooker is advertised as being designed with “safety in mind” and includes safety sensors that are meant to keep the lid from opening while under pressure. The lawsuit alleges those safety features failed when Thomas used the device.

The problem is not new. Sunbeam issued a recall for more than 900,000 Crock-Pot multicookers in November 2020. The complaint indicates the recall was issued only after the company and federal regulators received nearly 120 reports of faulty lids opening during cooking, causing nearly 100 burn injuries ranging in severity from first- to third-degree burns.

Thomas’s lawsuit alleges Sunbeam put profits over safety by continuing to sell the pressure cookers to consumers despite knowing about the faulty lid design. She argues the company failed to warn consumers of the serious risks posed by the defect and failed to issue a timely recall.

“Defendants ignored and/or concealed their knowledge of these defects in their Pressure Cookers from the Plaintiff in this case, as well as the public in general, in order to continue generating a profit from the sale of said Pressure Cookers, demonstrating a callous, reckless, willful, depraved indifference to the health, safety and welfare of Plaintiff and consumers like her.”

— Evelyn Thomas v. Sunbeam Products Inc. et al.

The complaint raises allegations of strict products liability, negligence, breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose and breach of implied warranty of merchantability. Thomas is seeking damages for bodily injuries, medical expenses, physical pain, mental anguish and diminished enjoyment of life.

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