WILMINGTON, Del. (Legal Newsline) - Whirlpool says the overwhelming majority of customers are happy with their refrigerators as it fights a class action lawsuit claiming the wires in them won't bend and instead crack.
The company on May 21 in Delaware federal court filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by 14 plaintiffs. The case cites 22 negative online reviews about various issues allegedly all caused by the same wiring problem.
But those 22 come from a pool of more than 20,000 reviews.
"These chosen 22 represent a tiny fraction - 0.067% - of the total consumer reviews incorporated into their pleading," the motion says.
"Several of them post-date some Plaintiffs' purchases, and those that pre-date their purchases were plainly publicly available for Plaintiffs to consider hen making their purchase decisions. This is insufficient to plausibly allege Whirlpool possessed knowledge of the systemic 'defect' central to Plaintiffs' claims."
The suit concerns refrigerators under the Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid and Kenmore brands. According to the complaint, these appliances contain faulty wiring which controls key functions such as the ice maker and dispenser, water dispenser and control panel on the doors.
The wires are supposed to bend but are instead prone to break or fray quickly under ordinary use, often shortly after the one-year warranty expires, the suit says. This defect not only renders some functions useless but also poses a safety hazard due to exposed live wires, the suit says.
The lawsuit further claims that Whirlpool has been aware of this issue for at least a decade but continued to sell these defective products without disclosing the problem.
The defect allegedly manifests within two or three years of purchase despite refrigerators usually lasting between 10 to 20 years. The plaintiffs argue that this defect is irreparable as even replacement doors suffer from the same issue.
Whirlpool says its claims about the refrigerators' "reliability" are non-actionable and that the plaintiffs have failed to show they still aren't keeping food cool.
"No Plaintiff actually purchased a replacement door," the motion says. "They simply assume the replacement doors will have the same defect.
"Moreover, five Plaintiffs do not allege they ever even contacted Whirlpool to seek a repair for their refrigerator."
Scott Tucker and other lawyers at Chimicles Schwartz Kriner & Donaldson-Smith are representing the plaintiffs.