Cuisinart Class Action Filed Over Massive Blade Recall

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The manufacturer of Cuisinart food processors is facing a class action lawsuit that alleges the company failed to produce replacement chopping blades as part of a recall effort.

Plaintiff Ellen Chepiga says the Conair Corporation has denied consumers full use of their machines because it has yet to send replacement blades after a December 2016 recall notice.

According to the class action, in December Conair notified 8 million Cuisinart food processor owners that they needed to stop using their blades. According to a Washington Post article, the blades can crack into small pieces into the food and cause injuries.

The plaintiff says that in response to the recall she registered for a new blade online in December of last year. However, Chepiga alleges that Conair has since notified food processor owners that replacement blades will not likely be sent until mid-2017.

The plaintiff points out in her class action lawsuit that Cuisinart owners were forced to cook their holiday meals without the use of their food processors and now face additional delays.

According to the class action, Conair in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued the recall in response to reports that the riveted blades of Cuisinart food processors were cracking and shards were being found in foods being chopped.

The complaint notes that the recall affects 22 models of Cuisinart food processors sold between 1996 and 2015 including: CFP-9, CFP-11, DFP-7, DFP-11, DFP-14, DLC-5, DLC-7, DLC-8, DLC-10, DLC-XP, DLC-2007, DLC-2009, DLC-2011, DLC2014, DLC-3011, DLC-2014, EV-7, EV-10, EV-11, EV-14, KFP-7, and MP-14.

According to the complaint, food processor owners eagerly awaiting replacement blades were dismayed by an email sent by Conair in early February notifying customers of a delay. Conair included a free electronic cookbook in the email that, ironically, included recipes that required food to be chopped, says the plaintiff. Further compounding disappointment, Conair allegedly sent another email several days later indicating that replacement blades could not be shipped until mid-June.

“During this time, Defendant continued to sell new food processors with chopping blades not subject to the recall. Defendant decided to prioritize its own profits by selling the new chopping blades instead of providing them to their loyal customers subject to the recall,” alleges the plaintiff.

“Had consumers known that they would have lost the use of the key chopping functionality of their food processor without advance warning, for an extended period, and spanning the December and January holiday season, consumers would have paid less for Defendant’s Cuisinart food processors,” the Cuisinart class action states.

The plaintiff seeks to represent Cuisinart food processor owners whose machines were covered by the December recall. She is seeking damages for the loss of use of the machine as well as lost value along with attorneys’ fees and costs.

Chepiga is represented by John D. Radice and April D. Lambert of the Radice Law Firm PC.

The Cuisinart Blade Recall Class Action Lawsuit is Chepiga v. Conair Corporation, Case No. 3:17-cv-01090-BRM-LHG, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

UPDATE: February 2018, the Cuisinart food processor blade recall class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.