A lawsuit has been filed by a man who claims that he was severely burned by a defective Instant Pot Viva Electric Pressure Cooker.
The lawsuit was filed by Jeffrey F. L., a man from Northport, Alabama. On or about March 27, 2021, he claims he suffered “serious and substantial burn injuries” when he opened the lid on his Instant Pot.
The accident involved an Instant Pot® Viva Black SS 60, which is a 6-Quart 9-in-1 Multi-Cooker with features such as a pressure cooker, rice cooker, steamer, warmer & sterilizer, yogurt maker, and more.
The plaintiff claims that he was using the pressure cooking feature on his Instant Pot when he was able to rotate and open the lid while the pressure cooker was still under pressure.
Doing so allowed its “scalding hot contents to be forcefully ejected from the pressure cooker and onto Plaintiff,” the lawsuit alleges.
He blames his burn injuries on the failure of the Instant Pot’s so-called “safety features,” which did not work as advertised.
In fact, the manufacturer specifically advertises the Viva Black SS 60 with claims like “[a]s a safety feature, until the float valve drops down the lid is locked and cannot be opened.”
This indicates that consumers should not be able to open the lid until all of the pressure has been released and the unit is safe to open, according to the lawsuit.
He claims that the Instant Pot Viva Black SS 60 is “unreasonably dangerous” and “defectively and negligently designed” because it does not prevent the lid from opening while the unit is pressurized.
The lawsuit was filed against Instant Brands Inc. on March 14, 2023 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama (Western Division) — Case Number 7:23-cv-00320-LSC.
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