Samsung stove
NEW ORLEANS – A Louisiana man has filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging consumer electronics maker Samsung “defectively designed” a model of slide-in electric stoves, resulting in thousands of dollars worth of property damage.
Plaintiffs Gabriel Hood and his homeowners insurance company, SureChoice Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange, filed their lawsuit September 30 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana.
Hood is a resident of Mandeville, La., and his insurer, SureChoice, is based in Houston, Texas.
In his six-page complaint, Hood accuses defendant Samsung Electronics America Inc. of product liability, negligence, and breach of implied warranty.
“On October 10, 2024, and at the time the Stove was designed and manufactured by Samsung, it was in a defective and unreasonably dangerous condition in that it contained a design defect with front control knobs that allowed them to be activated accidentally by people or pets,” his complaint states.
According to his complaint, Hood purchased an electric stove from Lowes in June 2023 that was designed and manufactured by Samsung.
A year later, Samsung issued a recall for the stove due to a fire hazard, pointing to its front control knobs.
“Consumers using the recalled ranges without knob locks or covers are cautioned to keep children and pets away from the knobs, to check the range knobs to ensure they are off before leaving the home or going to bed, and to not leave objects on the range when the range is not in use,” the company wrote in an Aug. 8, 2024, recall notice on the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website.
According to the notice, Samsung has received more than 300 reports of unintentional activation of the front-mounted knobs by humans or pets since 2013.
The stove ranges have been involved in about 250 fires. At least 18 fires caused extensive property damage, according to the company.
About 40 injuries have been reported – eight of which required medical attention – and there have been reports of seven fires involving pet deaths, Samsung noted in its recall notice.
On Oct. 10, 2024, a fire occurred at Hood’s home resulting in “significant real and personal property” damage.
According to the filing, the fire ignited when the stove became accidentally activated by Hood or one of his pet dogs and ignited “nearby combustibles.”
Following the fire, SureChoice paid Hood certain sums for real and personal property damage as well as additional living expenses and costs caused by the fire, under his policy.
Hood alleges he also sustained “significant uninsured losses” for which he also seeks compensation.
Attorney Shannon Howard-Eldridge of Slidell, La., is representing the plaintiffs in the action.
