Consumers Continue Fight in Conair Hair Dryer Fire Lawsuit

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Consumers are continuing to fight Conair Corp. in a nearly three-year-old class action lawsuit that alleges the company sold defective hair dryers that are prone to catching fire.

On Monday, in response to Conair’s motion to narrow the subclasses for California and New York consumers, the plaintiffs stood strong in their assertion that their claims have not changed and they don’t lack standing.

Conair’s attempt to whittle down the subclasses included the company telling U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez that the plaintiffs have taken a new position in the class action lawsuit and lack standing to serve as representatives for others for injuries they have not suffered. The plaintiffs argued that Conair’s assertions were not true.

Czuhaj initially filed the Conair class action lawsuit in August 2013 claiming that after 10 months of use, her Conair Infiniti Pro 1875 watt Salon Performance hair dryer caught fire as she was using it.

As a result of the fire emanating from the appliance, Czchaj says she dropped the hair dryer and her carpet surrounding it caught fire. Although she properly plugged the hair dryer into an appropriate outlet, the hair dryer did not turn off as a safety precaution, according to the Conair class action lawsuit.

Czuhaj sought certification in September 2015 which was subsequently granted for a nationwide class and subclasses.

In March 2016, in response to Conair’s motion for decertification, Judge Benitez partially decertified the nationwide class, leaving the California and New York subclasses intact while eliminating the nationwide class, saying that the variances between state laws led to too many individualized questions that could not be answered within a nationwide class.

In May, Judge Benitez considered decertifying the nationwide class altogether, saying, “Because the nationwide class for monetary relief has been decertified, there remains no substantive legal theory upon which to base nationwide injunctive relief.”

Now, this month, Conair made a move to further narrow the subclasses in the hair dryer class action lawsuit, arguing that the women were trying to represent other potential class members when they themselves had not suffered the same injuries. Czuhaj’s claims centered around a problem with the cord of the dryer, while New York subclass representative Patricia Carter’s center around a coil issue.

Conair argues, “As a fundamental matter of law, the class representatives lack Article III standing to bring a claim for an alleged injury that never happened.” Conair also asked for smaller time frame windows for each class.

In response, Czuhaj and Carter shot back at Conair, saying that there was never a “cord class” or a “coil class” and the nature of their claims were not altered. The representatives argued that the subclasses that remained all commonly alleged that the dryer was defective from the moment it was purchased.

“It was unnecessary for the defect to manifest for the injury to occur,” the consumers stated. “Whether their dryer had a propensity to emit sparks or flames from the barrel or the handle of the dryer is irrelevant to whether Czuchaj can represent all class members that purchased a dryer in California or Carter can represent all that purchased a dryer in New York.”

The plaintiffs are represented by Jerusalem F. Beligan of Bisnar & Chase, Jennifer Lynn Connor, Jeff Geraci, Isam C. Khoury and Michael D. Singer of Cohelan Khoury & Singer and Katherine J. Odenbreit of Hunt Ortmann Palffy Nieves Darling & Mah Inc.

The Conair Hair Dryer Class Action Lawsuit is Czuhaj v. Conair Corporation, et al., Case No. 3:13-cv-01901, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.

UPDATE: On Nov. 4, 2016, the parties in a class action lawsuit alleging defects in Conair hair dryers causes them to catch fire, proposed a $5.4 million settlement deal.

UPDATE 2: The Conair Infiniti Pro Hair Dry Class Action Settlement is now open! Click here to file a claim.