A South Carolina woman has filed a lawsuit against two major companies, alleging severe injuries caused by a defective pressure cooker. Teresa Grooms lodged the complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania on August 23, 2024, naming Spectrum Brands, Inc. and QVC, Inc., doing business as Cook’s Essentials, as defendants.
According to the complaint, Grooms suffered permanent and debilitating injuries while using a Cook’s Essential 8-Quart Programmable Pressure Cooker Model CEPC800 on September 17, 2021. The plaintiff asserts that the pressure cooker exploded during normal use due to latent safety defects known to the defendants but unknown to her. The explosion allegedly occurred when Grooms attempted to move the appliance back onto her kitchen countertop. Despite supposed failsafe devices integrated into its design, the pressure cooker's lid blew off with extreme force, spraying super-heated liquid and steam across her body.
The complaint details that both Spectrum Brands and QVC were actively involved in designing, manufacturing, marketing, importing, distributing, and selling the defective pressure cooker. Grooms claims that these companies falsely represented their product as safe through misleading statements in the owner’s manual. One such statement assured users that built-in safety valves would prevent opening the lid while there was still pressure inside—a claim that proved dangerously false in Grooms' case.
Grooms is seeking compensatory damages for her physical, mental, and emotional injuries resulting from what she describes as negligent and defective design. She argues that safer alternative designs were available but not implemented by the defendants. Furthermore, she accuses Spectrum Brands and QVC of being aware of similar incidents involving their pressure cookers yet failing to recall or remedy these defects or adequately warn consumers.
The plaintiff's causes of action include strict liability for selling a product in a defective condition unreasonably dangerous to consumers; negligence for failing to exercise reasonable care in designing and manufacturing a safe product; and breach of warranty for providing a product unfit for its intended purpose. She is asking for compensatory damages along with punitive damages aimed at punishing and deterring future misconduct by the defendants.
Representing Teresa Grooms are attorneys Benjamin O. Present from Kline & Specter PC in Philadelphia and Adam W. Pittman along with Taylor A. Pruett from Cory Watson Attorneys based in Birmingham, Alabama. The case has been assigned Case ID 2:24-cv-04428-CFK.