Electrolux has asked a federal judge to dismiss a class action lawsuit alleging dangerous defects in some of the company’s dishwashers.
The company filed its motion to dismiss on Oct. 25, raising multiple arguments that it says are grounds for dismissing the entire Electrolux class action lawsuit.
Plaintiffs Tony and Lauren Fitzgerald claim a defect in Electrolux dishwashers causes them to catch fire.
Electrolux now argues that the plaintiffs fail to raise allegations specific enough to state claims based on fraud. The company says the Electrolux class action lawsuit should identify exactly what the alleged defect is.
Instead, the Fitzgeralds only make general allegations that the dishwashers’ electrical systems have the potential to overheat and possibly cause flooding or fire. These allegations are not specific enough to meet the heightened pleading requirements for fraud-based claims, Electrolux argues.
Claims for negligence and negligent failure to warn suffer a similar defect, the company says, because the plaintiffs make only “generalized and conclusory allegations concerning the alleged defect, and Electrolux’s supposed knowledge of it.”
The plaintiffs’ strict liability claims for design defect and failure to warn should be dismissed because they don’t exist in Virginia law, Electrolux says. Virginia apparently does not recognize any cause of action for strict liability tort claims. Likewise, the plaintiffs’ failure to test and failure to recall theories are also not recognized in Virginia law.
Other claims are brought too late, the company says. The claim for breach of implied warranty supposedly fails because any alleged breach occurred after expiration of the implied warranty.
Electrolux says claims for unjust enrichment and fraudulent concealment are time-barred by applicable Virginia statutes of limitation.
The Fitzgeralds filed the Electrolux class action lawsuit this past summer. They claim the electrical system in their Electrolux-made Frigidaire dishwasher started a fire late one night in January 2013. They say the fire melted a hole in the dishwasher’s tub, flooding their kitchen.
The Fitzgeralds say they contacted Electrolux about the fire but could not agree on a way to resolve the problem.
Plaintiffs believe Electrolux has known about the alleged defect since at least as far back as 2007. They say online consumer reviews and reports filed with the Consumer Product Safety Commission document other cases of overheating, smoke, fire or flooding associated with Electrolux dishwashers.
The company supposedly has issued recalls of dishwashers in other countries because of a possible fire risk but has not issued a similar recall in the U.S.
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 Defective 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.
NEC lawsuit: Families take action against Enfamil and Similac baby formula makers
September 10, 2025 | Legal News
One thought on Electrolux Seeks Dismissal of Dishwasher Class Action Lawsuit
Our new Electrolux Dish Washer leaked onto our kitchen floor and dining room. we had to replace the flooring. Our appliance repairman told us that the design of the front door leaked frequently and he has had other calls about the same thing. I contacted H Gregg and they said they have heard this complaint before but Electrolux would not acknowledge any liability. Our dishwasher was under warranty but was not covered for the leak. We paid for the floor and bought another medium high end dishwasher.