Samsung faces a lawsuit alleging that a dishwasher fire involving one of their appliances caused fire damage to the plaintiff’s home.

Plaintiff Christina C. and her insurance company Allstate Vehicle and Property Insurance Co. recently filed a lawsuit against Samsung Electronics America Inc., alleging that a dishwasher fire involving one of their appliances caused extensive property damage. Christina claims that the dishwasher fire was a result of an appliance defect.

In July 2017, Christina allegedly experienced a Samsung dishwasher fire which caused over $75,000 in damages to her home. She claims that damages sustained from the dishwasher fire include over $43,000 in real property damage, over $17,000 in personal property damage, over $13,000 in living expenses, and a $1,000 deductible loss.

“The aforementioned ‘dishwasher’ was defective in design, production manufacture in that it failed to conform to the representations and/or warranties […] that came with, or should have come with, said product, including, but not limited to implied warranties of merchantability, and/or implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose,” the lawsuit states.

Appliance injuries are far more common that most consumers believe. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, kitchen appliance injury leads to over 800,000 visits to the emergency room per year. Common appliance injuries include fires, tip over injuries, small appliance injuries.

Although Christina’s dishwasher fire may seem out of the ordinary, kitchen fires account for a large portion of appliance injury. Two out of every five reported home fires occur due to cooking equipment. One out of every three cooking equipment home fires involve unattended cooking equipment and half are ignited by fat, grease, oil, or other substances. These fires are easy to prevent by monitoring cooking equipment, practicing fire safety, and keeping a fire extinguisher on hand at all times.

Almost 40,000 people were injured by range tip overs alone, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If children are unsupervised and climb on an open door or handle, they can cause the range to tip over. Children are particularly susceptible to kitchen appliance injury because they tend to climb shelves, doors, and anything else they can to reach what they need or want. Kitchen appliance injury can be avoided by installing anti-tip bracket onto kitchen appliances.

Other kitchen appliance injury includes small appliances such as food processors and blenders. These items are very useful in cooking but their sharp moving components can slice hands. Consumers should always avoid putting their hands inside these appliances to avoid kitchen appliance injury. Caution should also be exercised when washing the components by hand – most components are dishwasher safe.

It is important to take safety precautions to avoid kitchen appliance injury. However, if a product is defectively designed or manufactured and presents a safety hazard, the company who produced it may be responsible for any resulting injuries. In Christina’s case, she seeks to hold Samsung accountable for selling her an allegedly defective product which led to her dishwasher fire and property damage.

The lawsuit seeks compensation for property damages, court costs, and attorneys’ fees.

The Samsung Dishwasher Lawsuit is Case No. 5:18-cv-01016-JRA in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.