Frigidaire Microwave Handles Hot Enough to Burn, Say Consumers

Poorly designed Frigidaire microwave handles expose consumers to a risk of serious injury, according to plaintiffs in two consumer Electrolux class action lawsuits.

The products at issue are stainless steel over-the-range microwaves made by Electrolux Home Products and sold under several different brands, including Electrolux and Frigidaire.

Consumers say that when the burners are running on the stovetop beneath the ovens, the metal door handles on these ovens can get hot enough to burn. Some report the handle’s temperature can reach 168 degrees or higher.

According to consumers, the temperature these Frigidaire microwave handles gets well above more than one industry standard that says how hot a metal handle should be allowed to get.

The ASTM, formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials, says that a metal surface at 158 degrees or more can cause burns on skin almost instantaneously with contact.

By one report, over 800,000 Electrolux-made microwaves with the same or similar stainless steel Frigidaire microwave handles have been sold in the U.S. between 2011 and 2015.

Plaintiffs Sue over Frigidaire Microwave Handles

So far at least two different consumer class action lawsuits have been filed over these allegedly defective Frigidaire microwave handles.

In one such claim, plaintiff Elaine Rice says she bought one of the Frigidaire microwaves at issue in October 2013. She says she had the microwave professionally installed above her stove.

Later, while she was cooking on the stovetop, Rice says she reached for the microwave door handle. The metal handle was so hot that she got a burn from just the short moment of contact between the handle and her hand, she alleges.

Rice says her microwave was installed according to the instructions provided by Electrolux. She says she had it installed in the same spot over the stove that was previously occupied by her older over-the-range microwave.

Rice says she asked Electrolux to address the problem. The company allegedly sent a contractor from a local appliance shop to inspect the oven.

The contractor told Rice that the oven was too close to the stovetop – that the bottom of the oven should be at least 30 inches from the top of the range.

Rice says the contractor’s advice is contrary to the manufacturer-provided instructions. She says the installation instructions that came with the oven say the top of the oven, not its bottom, should be at least 30 inches above the stove – which is how high Rice says her microwave had been installed.

Rice says she kept asking Electrolux to resolve the problem by either refunding her money or by installing a new oven comparable to the one she bought but without the same stainless steel handle.

Electrolux sent her an email in February 2014 denying her claim, she says.

She is seeking to represent a Class of all U.S. persons who bought a microwave with the same type of stainless steel handle that was on her own microwave – part number 5304471830.

The Frigidaire Microwave Handles Class Action Lawsuit is Rice v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc., Case No. 4:15-cv-00371, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.