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On Tuesday, an Illinois federal judge denied plaintiffs’ request for Class certification in a class action lawsuit alleging certain Whirlpool ovens have a defect that causes them to overheat in the self-cleaning mode.
The plaintiffs claimed that 2 million Whirlpool Vision II Platform wall ovens sold in the United States had the same defect.
In her order denying certification, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve says the proposed Classes did not establish a single cause for the alleged self-cleaning oven defect in the Whirlpool Vision II Platform wall ovens.
“Plaintiffs have continually moved the goalpost with respect to identifying a common defect,” Judge St. Eve says in her order. She notes that the plaintiffs have suggested in their various court filings that the Whirlpool self-cleaning oven defect may be the result of several design issues, that it was related to air flow, or that the ovens are prone to overheating in the self-cleaning mode.
According to the judge, the plaintiffs described the Whirlpool self-cleaning oven defect in their opening Class certification brief as causing the ovens to be “prone to overheat and lock up when the self-cleaning cycle is used.”
“In their reply brief, however, Plaintiffs alter their description of the defect, offering a more precise picture,” Judge St. Eve notes. “Tellingly, they change the defined term ‘Defect’—which they had already changed during the time between the filing of the second amended complaint and the filing of the motion for class certification—to ‘poor airflow through the oven-surrounding enclosure.’”
Judge St. Eve also notes that plaintiffs Beth Kljajic and Kathleen Cates owned different Whirlpool ovens and had different experiences with the self-cleaning cycle. Kljajic reportedly bought an IKEA Datid oven in 2013, which malfunctioned during the self-cleaning cycle. She received a replacement Datid oven but never ran the self-cleaning cycle on the new oven, the judge says.
Plaintiff Cates, on the other hand, purchased a KitchenAid double oven in 2004, and used the oven for 10 years before it malfunctioned, Judge St. Eve notes. During the 10 years, Cates reportedly ran two or three self-cleaning cycles without incident. After it malfunctioned, the oven was repaired. Cates has not run the self-cleaning cycle since the repair was made, according to the judge.
The plaintiffs sought to use engineer Albert de Richemond as an expert in the case, but Judge St. Eve says that de Richemond has been unable to identify the cause of the alleged Whirlpool self-cleaning oven defect. She granted Whirlpool’s motion to exclude his testimony.
The Whirlpool self-cleaning oven class action lawsuit was filed two years ago over claims that the Whirlpool ovens overheat during the self-cleaning cycle, damaging the control panel and requiring expensive repairs or replacement of the oven. The plaintiffs sought certification of six Classes of Whirlpool oven owners. The proposed Class divisions were based on the version of the Vision II purchased, what state the consumer resides in, and other factors.
The plaintiffs are represented by Katrina Carroll of Lite DePalma Greenberg; Michael J. Flannery, Charles LaDuca and Katherine Van Dyck of Cuneo Gilbert & LaDuca LLP; Corey Sullivan of Sullivan Law LLC; Francis J. Flynn Jr. of the Law Office of Francis J. Flynn Jr.; and Jasper D. Ward IV and Alex C. Davis of Jones Ward PLC.
The Whirlpool Self-Cleaning Oven Class Action Lawsuit is Beth Kljajic, et al. v. Whirlpool Corp., Case No. 1:15-cv-05980, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.
UPDATE: The Whirlpool Self-Cleaning Oven Class Action Lawsuit was dismissed on July 17, 2017. Top Class Actions will let our viewers know if any new cases are filed.
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11 thoughts onWhirlpool Self-Cleaning Oven Defect Class Action Lawsuit Denied Cert.
My oven went out caused by the self cleaning after the year (2023) warranty expired. If so many issues with the self cleaning why is it still included. My first Whirlpool appliance and don’t like it already
We just ran out self clean on our whirlpool oven and it fried the control board. How is this not a class action lawsuit
Used my self cleaning oven today for the first time and the glass shattered inside the oven. Of course called whirlpool and was told the warranty expired, but would send someone and of course it’s not free. The oven was only 2 years old
Our oven went out today 2/13/2020 after the self-cleaning cycle and it’s locked with no power. Thank god it’s still under the Ikea 5 year warranty even though Whirlpool stated it wasn’t based on their ship date to Ikea. However, I have the purchase receipt to prove otherwise. They are sending a repair person, lets see what happens now. I guess we will order out for Christmas.
Seems it’s still happening in 2020. Exactly the same scenario.
I happened to us today 12/13/2020 oven went out and it’s locked and still under warranty after using the self cleaning function.
still happenning in 2022. Brand new oven, self cleaning killed it.
5 months later, oven still unusable.
My Kitchenaid wall oven (5 years old) died and locked after self cleaning. I fixed it myself by replacing the thermal fuse and the thermometer. It cost less than $80. I found there were lots of customers with the same problem. I contacted our Attorney General’s office about this, maintaining this was consumer fraud since the company has known for over 10 years about this problem and keep making ovens that do this exact same thing. 1 year after I fixed the oven, it happened again. I decided I wasn”t willing to repair it again because I didn’t want it any more, not after a Whirlpool exec called me and gave me $250 “for my trouble” (he swore it wasn’t a bribe). I now have a GE oven but am still really upset and will NOT be purchasing any Whirlpool/Kitchenaid product.
I wish I did a little research before I used the self cleaning oven operation.
I have a repair man showing up 2/13/2019 I looked up the piece online and it is 200 bucks alone for my digital read out that is not functioning and completely dead.
100 bucks for the guy to tell me its broke and I don’t know how much for instillation.
if that is the only problem.
1900.00 for a brand new oven which I never had a double oven before and pissed that it wasn’t really that dirty I only did it because it was that cold winter day in Chicago at -45 below zero .
I never had this happen with regular ovens that I owned.
How can we get compensation – this happened to me
whirlpoool corporate office denies defect
Replacemrnt part$200
How can I get compensated?
I have a wall unit Whirlpool self cleaning oven and it really gets hot when using the self cleaning, Please include me in this,.