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A Walmart customer has filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the retail giant’s Mainstay candles possess a serious defect that can cause them to explode or become engulfed in flames.
The Walmart Mainstays candle class action was filed by Shelby Ellebracht who says she purchased a Mainstays candle from a Walmart in Missouri in February 2018.
According to the customer, on Feb. 12, 2018, she lit the candle and burned it on her bathroom counter in a safe manner.
Allegedly, the candle began to burn with unusually high flames after being lit for under an hour, and soon exploded.
According to Ellebracht, she was physically injured by the candle. She says that her injuries were caused by a defect in the design or manufacturing in the candle.
Ellebracht states that Mainstays is a Walmart house brand, so she aims to hold Walmart accountable for her injuries. In her view, the company knew or should have known that the Mainstays candles were defective and could cause injuries, but sold them nonetheless. She asserts that Walmart put profits ahead of customer safety.
The Walmart class action lawsuit claims that when the candle burst into flames, the customer was using it safely. Ellebracht stresses that the candle was not touching anything other than the counter it was sitting on, nor were there any loose objects around the candle.
She says that there were not open windows or drafts in the bathroom, and that the faucet of the sink was neither running nor dripping. Because of this, Ellebracht argues that the problem she experienced with the candle was not caused by an environmental factor within her control.
The Walmart candle lawsuit goes on to state that Ellebracht had burned her candle for less than one hour — a safe amount of time — before it burned in an out-of-control, abnormal fashion.
She says that the candle became “engulfed” in flames that were not just coming from the wick, but seemed to come from the entire surface area of the wax.
Ellebracht recounts that quickly, the candle’s flames were tall enough that they blackened the ceiling with soot.
According to the Walmart class action lawsuit, she was worried that the candle would start a house fire, so she pushed the candle into the sink. It exploded into the sink, causing flaming wax to explode throughout the bathroom, the plaintiff says.
Going on to explain that Ellebracht was allegedly injured in the incident, the Mainstays candle class action lawsuit says that when the candle exploded, flaming wax hit Ellebracht. Allegedly, this caused her injuries in the form of a second degree burn on her right thigh.
The burn reportedly required initial medical treatment for the burn itself, and follow-up treatment from an infection that Ellebracht says was caused by the burn. The Walmart class action lawsuit claims that she incurred medical costs because of the burn, and lost time from work and school to recover.
She says the experienced permanent injury, in the form of scarring, and photosensitivity to the scar. This photosensitivity inconveniences her, she claims, forcing her to cover her leg, which interferes with some of her favorite activities, including swimming and boating.
Aside from physical injures, Ellebracht asserts that she has suffered financially from her purchase, in the form of medical bills, damage to her bathroom, lost wages, and the amount paid for the candle itself.
In filing the Walmart lawsuit, Ellebracht asks the court to award compensatory damages for her injuries, as well as any other damages the court sees fit. Ellebracht seeks damages not only for herself, but for all other customers who purchased the candles.
Even if other customers were not injured by the candles, she says that all customers who purchased the candles were financially injured by Walmart, because if they had known that the candle possessed a dangerous defect, they likely would not have purchased the candle or would not have paid as much for it.
To support the claim that other customers had similar experiences, the Walmart candle class action lawsuit asserts that multiple customers have contacted Walmart about issues they had with the Mainstays candles, including accounts much like Ellebracht’s.
Have you ever purchased a product that you believed possessed a dangerous defect? Share your experience in the comments below.
Ellebracht is represented by A. Scott Waddell of Waddell Law Firm LLC, Eric S. Playter and Chris R. Playter of Playter & Playter LLC, and Jack D. McInnes of McInnes Law LLC.
The Walmart Mainstays Candle Dangerous Defect Class Action Lawsuit is Shelby Ellebracht v. Walmart Inc., Case No. 4:20-cv-00361, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.
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913 thoughts onWalmart Class Action Lawsuit: Mainstay Candles Are Dangerous
Back in 2010 I purchased a 3 wick mainstays candles and lit the candle as normal and about not even an hour later the entire candle was in flames. The flame was so high it set my smoke alarm off and the glass jar was back and the wax was literally on fire. I tried to rush and put the candle out and ended up in the hospital with 1st and 2nd degree burns on my face. It burnt my eyelashes off while trying to put this candle out. I have never in my life ever had a candle so this. It was awful. While trying to put it out it was as if what I was doing was only making it worse. The glass exploded after getting it out.
My daughter is 15 years old. She is now recovering from 2nd -3rd degree burns on her right hand. Also, possible scarring on her face & upper body. She was warming the Mainstay Wax Scented Warmers when the wax actually caught on fire. This is the second time the wax has caught fire. I was home the 1st time. Needless to say, this time I wasn’t. Well, the pot caught fire & she tried picking up buy the handle to throw out of house when it exploded in her hand. She then dropped the pot on the kitchen floor. At this point the wax splashed her right side of face, back, shoulder, and chest. She was trapped in the corner of room cause of fire. The fire was everywhere the wax was. which was across the length of our mobile home. Scared to death she had to jump over flames beating them out with a oven mitt from the kitchen. At that what she thought was candle was on her right hand was in fact her skin melting off her fingers. She got the fire put out before she realized how bad she was burnt. I was just about home when she called me franticly to tell me she burnt herself & her skin was melting off. She was rushed to Summerville Medical by EMS. While in the ambulance the paramedic gave her fentanyl for pain. I wasn’t allowed to ride due to the pandemic. Upon arriving to hospital, she was then transported to MUSC Shaw Jenkins Burn Center. She had to be put under so they could scrub the hand clean. They let her come home only to cry herself to sleep from the pain. She is recovering well but this has scarred her for life in more was then one. She went back to school with what she now called a Marshmallow hand & very visible slash burns on her face. Day 2 of school she couldn’t even go due to the pain & embarrassment she felt. Again, this was wax warmers with no wick. What can we do about this?
2021. In oct is bought a few fall scented candles and on nov/dec I bought a few more fall / christmas scents (mainstays) I notice I am coughing and wheezing so bad I cant even breath in litteraly go through darn near two inhalers a month sue to this .i wake up 4 times a night feeling tight and breathless again needing my inhaler .i cant sleep due to this issue. The coughing is painful ive lost time with famiky o see this. Ive since thrown my new candles away but even just the smell of then non lit is bothering me .
My name is Beverly Birch lives in Denver colo Purchased a candle from Walmart on 36th and Quebec Denverbought the candle in Oct i l lite candle let it burn bout 15mins later r he candle had gotten out of control so I put candle out tried burning it next day started out fine and the flame was burning yo high out of control black spot all around candle in the inside K still have it for proof thief sti se them bought late Ocg 2021 plz!add me to list Thx you kinfley
Add me to the list, but for a different reason. I bought 2 mainstay candles and lit both, which put off a nice aroma. I let one burn in a bedroom on a plastic table, in the middle of a room, and one on a countertop in the kitchen. 5 minutes after starting the one in the bedroom – it put off this weird waxy smell and I thought I was over-reacting, but blew it out anyway. A little while later, the one in the kitchen started doing the same thing and a pool of wax about an inch thick appeared at the top of the glass, something I’ve never seen with any other candle, so I blew it out too. The next day, both me and a relative cannot stop coughing, and there is definately something waxy stuck in our throats. I hope it dissolves and disappears from our throats soon, but if we’re still coughing after a couple days, I’ll start my own lawsuit.
My name is Beverly Birch lives in Denver colo Purchased a candle from Walmart on 36th and Quebec Denverbought the candle in Oct i l lite candle let it burn bout 15mins later r he candle had gotten out of control so I put candle out tried burning it next day started out fine and the flame was burning yo high out of control black spot all around candle in the inside K still have it for proof thief sti se them bought late Ocg 2021 plz!add me to list Thx you kinfley
I think she is full of it. I have burrned many of these candles for years with no problems whatsoever. No odd flames. No broken glass. No wax running onto me. And no explosions. Walmart does not even manufacture these candles. They are purchased by Walmart from a small local company in Arkansas that manufactures them. I think she did something wrong and is just trying to milk Walmart for it. They will likely pay her to make it go away.
I have suffered from severe headaches from these candles several times. We finally figured out it was the chemicals in the mainstays candles. Worst headaches I’ve ever had. They need to pull them off the shelf!
Same here. I also think that the mainstays tealights’ metal container has lead in it. I am going to ask doc to do lead levels.
Mainstays clip on light burned me and it looks second/third degree. I took images and looked at the packaging to see if there was a heat warning to alert consumers. I am scarred badly. Their clip is faulty and I have never been burned so bad in life.
My candle exploded and wax was all over my countertop, walls and ceilings. I was so surprised and afraid. Add me.
Please add me I bought 4 and gave 3 to family they all exploded and was a waxy watery mess to put the fires out why didn’t they do more testing on this stuff?? Is it toxic too??