Ashley Milano  |  October 17, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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whirlpool-maytagA putative class action lawsuit against Whirlpool and Maytag over allegedly defective refrigerator-freezers is moving forward as a California federal judge says consumers’ breach of implied warranty claims may be valid.

U.S. District Judge Beth Freeman told the parties Thursday that while certain negligence claims against Whirlpool and Maytag don’t stand up, allegations that the home appliance manufacturers knew their combination refrigerator-freezers were equipped with defective tube-drain parts that caused leaks but failed to disclose this to customers, may constitute liability.

This alleged action is the reason Judge Freeman told the parties the proposed class action can’t be dismissed.

“I’m not ready to terminate the case in the pleading stage on that issue,” the judge noted.

During Thursday’s scheduled hearing, both Maytag and Whirlpool urged the court to dismiss the class action complaint brought by plaintiff Julie Corzine last November.

Corzine alleged that Whirlpool and Maytag refrigerator-freezers do not operate properly and are carelessly designed.

Specifically, Corzine claims that the tube-drains in the refrigerator-freezers become clogged and lose their ability to effectively drain evaporated water, therefore causing a build-up of ice and excess water to leak into the bottom of the refrigerators.

The tube-drain defect allegedly caused Corzine and potential Class Members to face costs associated with replacing the tube-drains along with damage caused by the leaks.

Corzine brought the proposed class action lawsuit against Whirlpool and Maytag on various claims of strict liability, negligence, breach of express and implied warranty, among others.

On Thursday, counsel for Maytag and Whirlpool pleaded with Judge Freeman to dismiss the lawsuit on grounds that the plaintiff’s negligence claims do not meet the economic loss doctrine.

The defendants also argued that warranty claims should be tossed because the allegedly defective leaky refrigerators still kept food cold despite needing to be unplugged and defrosted on occasion to melt accumulated ice.

“There are no allegations that the alleged defect failed to [keep food cold],” Maytag and Whirpool attorney Michael N. Mulvania of Wheeler Trigg O’Donnell LLP stated.

But Corzine’s attorney, Graham B. LippSmith of Weber Turner LLP shot back, arguing that consumers have a reasonable expectation that in addition to keeping food cold, the modern Whirlpool and Maytag refrigerators should not have to be unplugged to defrost accumulated ice.

“That’s why you have a refrigerator instead of — say — a block of ice sitting in a box,” he argued.

Still, Judge Freeman stated she was prone to dismiss the negligence claims, stating that the harm the the proposed Class incurred is purely speculative at this point.

But, she did side with the plaintiffs that there is plausible evidence that the appliance manufacturers were aware of the alleged defect since they opted to redesign the internal drain tubes in 2009.

Judge Freeman also told the parties that despite being tentative in giving the green light to the putative class action over allegations brought by a single plaintiff, she conceded there has not been an opportunity as of yet to locate additional Class Members at this phase in discovery.

“I hate to see what is a dispute over a few dollars to become three or four years of litigation,” Judge Freeman said.

Corzine and the putative Class are represented by Graham B. LippSmith of Weber Turner LLP.

The Maytag and Whirlpool Leaky Refrigerator Class Action Lawsuit is Corzine v. Maytag Corp., et al., Case No. 5:15-cv-05764, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On July 8, 2019, Whirlpool reached a settlement worth about $21 million with customers who say that some of the company’s refrigerators possessed a defect in their drain tube which causes freezing and results in water leakage.

UPDATE 2: September 2019, the Whirlpool leaky refrigerator class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.

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43 thoughts onMaytag, Whirlpool Can’t Escape Leaky Refrigerator Class Action

  1. Patricia a Henry says:

    I have to keep a towel lay down in the front of minesTo keep it from wetting up the whole kitchen floor please add me Tired of calling the repair company

  2. cynthia says:

    ya hace 1 ano que compramos un dishwasher pero el la 2da semanan no sirvio tardaron 7 meses en arreglarlo esperando partes pero ni aun asi sirvio al casi ano me dan otra igualita a lasemana tuvo exactamente los mismos poblemas. yo vivo pegada a la linea wilpool diciendoles que ese modelo de dishwasher no sirve que porfavor me den otro modelo pero son super sangrones muy mal servicio me traen a puras mentiras tengo los nombres de la gente con la k hablo y uno dice si ya se le va adar otrosdicen no no se le va a dar nada llamo a homedepot que ahi fue donde la compre y dicen que no pueden hacer nada.

  3. Stephen English says:

    Is MAYTAG MODEL MFI2665XEBO INCLUDED IN THIS CLASS ACTION SUITE.? I HAVE MY REFIGERATOR APART NOW FOR THE FREEZING OF THE DRAIN TUBE, AWAITING A NEW TUBE.

  4. Robin says:

    Having the same problem! Brand new fridge in a brand new house. I have had to come home to water in floor and a large block of ice under crisper drawer, multiple times. Last night it happened again. Now I know it’s a known problem. My new hardwood floor is warped and damaged. Infuriated! Whirlpool needs to pay for the damage. Fridge was really expensive too…shouldn’t have this problem.

    1. Samantha Wehner says:

      Samantha Wehner
      I have been having a leak from my Whirl Pool for a year, had to mop floor again this evening. So glad I now know what is happening so I can get it fixed.

  5. Patricia bollinger says:

    my maytag leaks about every three days. At first I slipped and fell on tile floor a few times. Now I know every three days I have to chip the ice out on the bottom of the freezer.It is a major problem for the price we paid. Shame on Maytag

    1. Selena says:

      I spray pam cooking oil in the bottom of the freezer so that once the water freezes, I can pick up on the edge of the ice and pull it out every few days.

  6. Brandi Banowski says:

    My Maytag refrigerator has been leaking all over my floor and the ice maker won’t work.

  7. Alejandra Santacruz says:

    I have a Maytag Refrigator and it leaked from the bottom and the ice maker doesn’t work. This happened within a year and a few months that we bought it. Every so often It makes loud noises. It’s so frustrating to be taking the ice out every other day.

  8. Mike and Linda Shoemaker says:

    Our maytag frig is 4 & 1/2 yrs old and has to be replaced. We have problems with ice maker and back of frig freezes up every 3 months and starts to heat up the food inside. The bottom freezer is fine. Paid $3000 for it. Never has worked right. So it is costing us $1000 a year for the frig and all we do is work on it. Tried to get on website and told them about problems but got nowhere.

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