Can I Sue If My Blender Explodes

I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss personal injury law topics.

Today’s question comes from a caller who had their blender explode, and they would like to know their legal rights.

In speaking with the caller, it appears there were only minor injuries. But, that is not always the case.

A few years ago, we represented a woman who was severely lacerated by a high-speed blender. It spontaneously started up, causing the blades to spin at high speed without a cup or protective guard over them.

The device had no on/off switch. In trying to unplug the device from the electrical outlet, the user suffered permanent injury.

Several personal injury lawsuits have been brought against a high-speed blender company that sells a product that utilizes blender cups. The many uses of the product include blending soups and making smoothies.

Injuries have included severe burns or cuts suffered when their blender device exploded during use.

Consumers are reporting similar injuries from using the blender device, even for the newer model devices. This suggests that the blender manufacturer has done nothing to make its product safer, despite many consumers being injured by the product.

Some of the injury claims involve situations where the consumer reports that the device malfunctioned after 30-45 seconds of use and would not turn off or started emitting a burning smell before exploding and severely burning people.

The blender company claims that the injuries are primarily due to customer misuse. It says people are blending hot liquids, leaving the device unattended, or exceeding the maximum one-minute blending time specified in the instruction manual.

Attorneys representing the injured contend that their clients were correctly using the device. They argue that the blender should have an on/off switch, a timer, and a pressure release valve to protect against the danger of explosion.

In our particular case, we sued the manufacturer, designer, and seller of the high-speed blender. We alleged that the blender had a design defect and was unreasonably dangerous because it had no on/off switch. The only means to de-energize it was to manually unplug it from an electrical outlet.

Additionally, the device had no safety mechanism to render it inoperable to prevent the blades from being engaged without a cup over them. The blender failed to come with adequate warnings of the dangers associated with its lack of a power switch or its ability to operate and power on itself and rotate the blades at high speed without a cup over them.

We also alleged a breach of express and implied warranties.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you are a victim of someone’s carelessness, substandard medical care, a product defect, work injury, or another personal injury, please call (219) 736-9700 with your questions. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at DavidHolubLaw.com – while there, make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth.”