Electrolux Class Action Alleges Dishwashers Pose Fire Hazard

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Electrolux Home Products Inc. has been hit with a class action lawsuit alleging some of their residential dishwashers are faulty and prone to overheating.

“These dishwashers are dangerously defective in that their electrical systems overheat and catch fire, burning holes through the dishwasher, causing flooding, or causing the entire dishwasher and surrounding area to ignite and burn,” the Electrolux class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiffs Tony and Lauren Fitzgerald filed the Electrolux class action lawsuit Monday in Virginia federal court. They claim that they purchased a home in which a Frigidaire dishwasher manufactured by Electrolux was installed. In January 2013, they started the dishwasher before going to bed.

According to the Frigidaire dishwasher class action lawsuit, the Fitzgeralds were awakened in the middle of the night by their smoke detectors and they say their home smelled of burning plastic. Firefighters reportedly extinguished the fire, the source of which was identified as being under the dishwasher.

The Fitzgeralds claim that they not only suffered fire damage from the Frigidaire dishwasher defect, but their kitchen was also flooded because the fire melted a hole in the tub. According to the class action lawsuit, they contacted Electrolux about the issue but they did not reach an agreement. The Fitzgeralds claim that they would have paid less for their home or immediately replaced their Frigidaire dishwasher if they had known about the dangerous electrical defect.

According to the Electrolux class action lawsuit, the Fitzgeralds are not alone. They cite several consumer complaints about the defective electrical system in Electrolux dishwashers that were submitted to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and to ConsumerAffairs.com. These consumers reported that their Electrolux dishwashers had overheated and caused property damage through smoke, fire, and/or flooding.

The Fitzgeralds allege that Electrolux knew since at least 2007 that the dishwashers contained a defective electrical system that can create an “unreasonable risk of property damage and personal injury or death.” Electrolux reportedly issued a recall of some of its dishwashers in other countries due to a potential fire risk, but did not issue a similar recall for dishwashers in the United States.

By filing the Electrolux dishwasher class action lawsuit, the Fitzgeralds seek to represent a nationwide and a Virginia Class of consumers who purchased or acquired the allegedly defective Electrolux dishwashers as well as a Class of consumers who suffered property damage or other losses due to the alleged dishwasher defect.

The Electrolux class action lawsuit asserts claims for breach of implied warranty, strict liability – design defect, strict liability – failure to warn, negligence, negligent failure to warn, injunction and declaratory relief, unjust enrichment and fraudulent concealment.

The Fitzgeralds are represented by David Hilton Wise and James P. Lukes of Wise & Donahue PLC,;Matthew E. Lee of Whitfield Bryson & Mason LLP; Edward A. Wallace, Amy E. Keller and Adam Prom of Wexler Wallace LLP; Gregory F. Coleman and Lisa A. White of Greg Coleman Law PC; Eric H. Gibbs and Steve Lopez of Gibbs Law Group LLP; and Shanon Carson and Arthur Stock of Berger & Montague PC.

The Electrolux Dishwasher Class Action Lawsuit is Tony and Lauren Fitzgerald v. Electrolux Home Products Inc., Case No. 3:16-cv-00394, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Richmond Division.

UPDATE: On Oct. 25, 2016, Electrolux asked a federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging dangerous defects in some of the company’s dishwashers.