Jury awards woman $56M for Sunbeam pressure cooker explosion

Sunbeam pressure cooker overview: 

• Who: A Colorado jury has awarded $55.5 million to a woman injured by a Sunbeam pressure cooker.
• Why: The jury said Sunbeam and its parent company were mostly responsible for the woman’s injuries.
• Where: The case was heard by a jury in Colorado.

A federal jury has awarded a Colorado woman $55.5 million after determining that an exploding Sunbeam pressure cooker caused her severe injuries.

However, the jury also assigned the woman, Georgina Perez, 10% of the responsibility for the 2019 incident, which left her with severe burns.

The Colorado jury handed down its decision Dec. 13, stating that it held Sunbeam Products Inc. and its parent company, Newell Brands Inc., accountable for a defective design, failure to provide adequate warnings and negligence. 

The June 3, 2019, accident occurred while Perez was cooking beans in her Express Crock Multi-Cooker. She said she followed the manual’s instructions and attempted to release the steam about 20 minutes after cooking. At that moment, the pressure cooker exploded, sending scalding beans and liquid onto Perez’s face, chest, and kitchen, she alleged.

Perez said she suffered life-threatening burns across 13% of her body and underwent extensive medical treatment, including over five square feet of skin grafts. Her injuries also impaired her ability to regulate body temperature due to damaged sweat glands, her lawsuit alleged.

Sunbeam and Newell knew of explosion risks, jury heard

Evidence presented during the trial revealed significant safety concerns with the device. Nearly one million units of the Sunbeam SCCPPC600V1 model were recalled in November 2020 after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission identified a defect allowing the cooker to pressurize even if the lid wasn’t fully locked. 

The CPSC received reports of 99 burns linked to 119 incidents of lid detachment, the jury heard.

Sunbeam and Newell argued there were no design flaws or inadequate warnings, claiming Perez misused the cooker and failed to follow instructions. However, court documents showed the companies were aware of the potential danger as early as 2017. In 2018, an engineering firm confirmed the lid could open under pressure.

While Newell initially denied involvement in the product’s design or manufacturing, the jury concluded otherwise, finding the parent company more culpable than Sunbeam in the devastating accident.

The damages included $3.5 million for noneconomic harm, $2 million for physical impairment, $15 million in punitive damages against Sunbeam, and $35 million in punitive damages against Newell. Sunbeam was deemed 27% responsible, while Newell was found 63% responsible. 

In 2022, Sunbeam was hit with a different lawsuit by a woman who says she got serious injuries when she found herself able to remove the lid of a Sunbeam pressure cooker while it was on and still cooking, sending steam and heat onto her skin.

What do you think of the outcome in this pressure cooker explosion case? Let us know in the comments.

Perez is represented by Hannah Huston, Michael Burg, Holly Kammerer and Shane Fulton of Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh & Jardine PC. 

The Sunbeam pressure cooker case is Georgina Perez v. Sunbeam, Case No. 1:21-cv-01915 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.

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