Walmart Pressure Cooker Lawsuit Filed After Lid Blew Off, Causing Severe Burns from Hot Liquid, Steam

A Louisiana woman has filed a product liability lawsuit against Walmart, alleging that her Farberware pressure cooker exploded suddenly and without warning, spraying her with super-heated liquid when she removed the lid, causing serious burns.

The complaint (PDF) was filed by Bobbie Sullivan in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana on September 29, indicating that Walmart and the manufacturer, Midea America Corp, sold an unreasonably dangerous pressure cooker, which lacked safety features that could have prevented the lid from coming off while the contents were still pressurized.

The claim joins a number of similar pressure cooker lawsuits filed in recent months against Walmart and manufacturers of other popular devices, including Instant Pot, Crock Pot, Ninja Foodie and others, each raising similar allegations that the modern electronic devices are prone to explode when the lid is removed, even after it appears all steam has been released from the pot.

Sullivan indicates that she bought a Farberware 7-in-1 Programmable Pressure Cooker at Walmart, and was using it to prepare shrimp in October 2022. Although she released the pressure valve, when Sullivan went to remove the lid, the Walmart pressure cooker exploded.

“Despite the failsafe devices supposedly integrated as part of the design of the pressure cooker, the pressure cooker’s lid blew off with extreme force,” the lawsuit states. “As it exploded, the pressure cooker sprayed super-heated liquid and steam across Bobbie Sullivan’s body.”

The lawsuit indicates Sullivan suffered serious and permanent injuries across her body, which could have been avoided if the manufacturers had installed adequate safety measures into the Walmart pressure cooker.

Pressure Cooker Explosion Risks

Modern electronic pressure cookers like the Walmart Farberware pressure cooker have become popular in recent decades, amid marketing that has promoted advanced features that were supposed to prevent pressure cooker explosions that have plagued older, stove-top designs.

However, Sullivan and other plaintiffs allege that devastating pressure cooker accidents could have been avoided if the advertised safety features had not failed.

Most of the problems involve similar burns to large portions of the user’s body, which occurred after the lid exploded off while the contents were still pressurized. However, other injuries linked to pressure cookers have also included eye injuries, broken bones and other complications that resulted from electrocutions, spills or explosions.

As more of these electric pressure cookers have been introduced in recent years, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued several pressure cooker recalls over problems where lids were able to be opened while contents are under pressure, allowing hot contents to be expelled and causing a scald or burn injury to individuals in the immediate area.

In November 2020, a massive Crock-Pot Multi-Cooker recall was issued for more than 1 million products, following more than 100 reports of problems where the lids detached from pressure inside the cookers, causing severe burns and other injuries.

In August 2023, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a similar Sensio pressure cooker recall affecting nearly 900,000 devices, which also pointed to dozens of pressure cooker explosions and burn injuries, which occurred when the lid was removed. However, many consumers remain unaware of the hidden dangers associated with these products, and the lack of safety features that could prevent serious burns from an explosion.