Defective Electrolux dishwasher recall in U.K. prompts U.S. lawsuits

Philadelphia Contributionship Insurance Co. (PCIC) slapped Electrolux Home Products Inc. with a law suit on the 14^th February earlier this year.

The law suit was filed to the New Jersey federal court in the U.S. and comes off the back of allegations that complaints here in the U.K. were ignored.

The insurers are accusing the popular white goods company of a faulty wiring problem with their dishwashers, possibly relating to an incident where one belonging to a customer burst into flames – so we’re talking about a serious issue here of course.

Up in flames

An Electrolux dishwasher owned by customer and PCIC policy holder Mr John Davis Jr spontaneously set on fire and caused flooding in his property. It;s suspected that the Frigidaire dishwasher had defective wiring that caused the ignition.

Mr David is apparently not the only victim; several proposed class actions are expected to come forward from similar incidents.

PCIC’s law suit claims that:

“…as a direct and proximate result of the defective condition of the Frigidaire dishwasher and its component parts, the [fire] occurred, causing the property damage sustained by PCIC’s insurers, for which it has paid.”

Mr David has been paid around $623,000 as a result of the incident. PCIC intends to recoup the amount paid out, plus legal fees. The insurer is basing their lawsuit on Electrolux’s breach of implied and express warranties as the fire seems to be caused by “a malfunction and/or defect in the electrical wirings.”

Numerous class actions

The 8 proposed class actions (group actions) accuse Electrolux of knowing about the defect in their Frigidaire dishwashers when it recalled some of them in the U.K. a number of years ago; but not taking any action in the U.S. The class actions argue that ever since the recall was initiated over here, an investigation should have been probed into the dishwashers in the U.S. as well.

Since the reportedly defective products have set on fire in the U.S. too, Electrolux should arguably have recalled them and taken them off the shelves there as well.

U.K. safety recall in 2008

A safety recall in the U.K was initiated back in March of 2008 for Electrolux dishwashers. The white goods maker sent out engineers to inspect just under 7,000 dishwashers after reports of fires. Apparently, only 3 dishwashers were faulty, but it was not known which of the 7,000 dishwashers sold since 2006 were the defective ones.

An Electrolux spokesperson responded to the situation, saying:

“Electrolux takes the safety of its products very seriously, and we intend to vigorously defend ourselves.”

Not the first fire-hazard problem…

In July 2016 the Electrolux Frigidaire built-in ovens were recalled in the U.S as well as the U.K. The reason for the recall was for a similar defect – posing a risk of a fire hazard.

Regulators warned that the thermal switch on the ovens could malfunction, and the defect was blamed on improper manufacturing. Instructions paired with the recall requested that owners stop using the ovens and contact Electrolux for an inspection and repairs free of charge.