On November 14, 2019, Sears issued a recall for their Kenmore Elite Microwave Ovens. The microwaves were made by Guangdong Galanz exclusively for Sears. According to the recall -number 20-020 – an issue with improper wiring can cause the microwave’s exterior to reach temperatures in excess of 183 degrees Fahrenheit; this poses a burn hazard to consumers.
Roughly 700 units have been affected by the recall. The recall involves the 1,000-eatt microwaves manufactured under the Kenmore Elite brand on April 27, 2017. The affected products have model number 204.77603610 and serial numbers between 17042700001 and 17042700684. This identifiable information can be found on the back of the microwave.
The defective microwaves were sold exclusively at Sears, Sears Hometown, and Sears Outlet Stores nationwide from May 2017 to July 2018 for approximately $350 each. So far, no injuries or incidents have been reported. Sears is suggesting that all consumers who own a microwave involved in the recall immediately stop using the microwave and contact Sears to schedule a free in-home repair.
Although there have been no reported injuries so far, it is possible that at least some consumers have been directly affected by the defective product. If you or a member of our family suffered any type of harm associated with the defective microwave or any other defective product, it is essential that you seek legal assistance – depending on the specific details surrounding your claim, you might have grounds to sue and even recover monetary compensation.
If you would like to learn more about your right to pursue a claim after being harmed by a defective product, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at Normandie Law Firm as soon as possible. At Normandie Law Firm, our lawyers have many years of experience handling all sorts of claims and are ready to provide you with the guidance that you need to pursue your claim against Sears or any other company that negligently made a defective product available to you for purchase.
The experts at our law firm are ready to provide with the guidance that you need to hold all parties accountable for their negligent actions and the harm that you suffered. To discuss your claim with our product liability attorneys, do not hesitate to contact our law firm at your earliest convenience.
The Risk of Injury
As explained above, the defective microwave’s exterior can reach approximately 183 degrees Fahrenheit. Exposure to temperatures as low as 109.4 degrees Fahrenheit could cause burns. With increases in temperature, the severity of burns also increases. Exposure to temperatures in excess of 176 degrees Fahrenheit will result in severe burns. Without a doubt, the severity of burns suffered depends on both the temperature and the length of time that the skin was exposed to a specific temperature. In temperatures in excess of 176 degrees Fahrenheit (such as the potential 183 degrees Fahrenheit associated with the defective microwave), it takes less than a second of exposure to develop a burn.
Regardless of the degree of the burn that you or a member of your family suffered, the injury could have been avoided. In cases in which innocent consumers are harmed by defective products, it is essential to acknowledge that the harm suffered could have been avoided had the company not negligently made a defective product available for purchase. This means that the company that made the defective product available to consumers could be held accountable.
What is Product Liability?
Based on product liability, all companies owe their consumers a specific duty of care. Companies have a duty to ensure that their products are completely safe to be used by consumers. To ensure that their products are safe for consumer use, companies inspect and test their products prior to making them available for purchase. Ultimately, companies must identify and address all product defects before releasing them to the public. If they fail to do so, they are breaching their duty of care to their consumers and creating a severe risk of injury.
When a breached duty of care directly results in an incident that harms a consumer, the company could be held liable for the harm suffered. If the defect present was in design, labeling, or manufacturing, the company that negligently failed to identify or address the defect could be found liable for all the harm arising from the defect. For more information about product liability, do not hesitate to contact our law firm today.
Your Right to Sue and Receive Compensation for All Harm Suffered
Based on product liability, you could sue a company if their breached duty of care directly resulted in the harm that you or a member of your family suffered. If you have the right to sue, you also have the right to receive monetary compensation for the harm that you suffered.
Some of the compensation that might be available for recovery could include
- Medical bills
- Lost income
- Pain and suffering
- Punitive damages
Depending on the details surrounding the claim, compensation for loss of consortium and funeral/burial expenses might also be available.
If you would like to learn more about the type and amount of compensation that you could be eligible to recover if your product liability claim reaches a successful outcome, do not hesitate to contact our law firm at your earliest convenience. Our lawyers are ready to aggressively fight for your right to recover the highest amount of compensation available for your claim. It doesn’t matter if you have to negotiate for a settlement or take your claim to trial to reach an award, you can trust that our experts will not rest until you and your are rightfully compensated.
Follow these Steps to Prepare to File Your Claim
Anyone who is harmed by a defective product and is thinking about filing a claim against the liable party should follow the steps listed below:
- Take photos of all injuries suffered
- Take photos of the defective product
- Seek medical attention immediately
- Stop using the defective product
- Do not attempt to repair the defective product
- Do not tamper with the defective product (leave it as-is in a safe place)
- Contact the company to report the product defect and the harm suffered
- Do not agree to a refund, a free replacement, or a free repair
- Do not sign any document provided by the company
- Collect witness information
- Gather all purchase records
- Gather all medical records
- Seek legal assistance with a product liability lawyers
For more information about the actions that you should take after being harmed by a defective product, whether it is a microwave or any other defective product, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance at your earliest convenience.
File Your Claim on Time
Although you will likely have grounds to sue if you or a member of your family suffered any sort of harm because of a defective product, it is possible for you to lose your right to take any legal action. All claims are subject to a statute of limitations, which establishes the total length of time that affected parties have to file claims. If claims are not filed within the appropriate length of time, the parties affected by defective products will lose their right to sue and lose their right to recover any sort of compensation.
What deadline applies to your claim? How long do you have to sue for the harm that you or a member of your family suffered? In California, product liability claims are generally subjected to a two-year statute of limitations; this allows all parties affected by a defective product a two-year timeframe to pursue a claim. Although it is possible that your claim will simply be subject to a two-year deadline, it is possible that exceptions apply. If any exceptions apply, your statute of limitations could be paused (some details that could result in exceptions to the applicable statute of limitations include the age of the victim, whether the victim is mentally incompetent, and whether the defendant left the state, for example).
To ensure that you have a thorough understanding of the specific statute of limitations that applies to your claim (along with any exceptions to the statute of limitations), you should seek legal assistance immediately with our defective product attorneys at Normandie Law Firm.
Contact Our Defective Product Attorneys Today
Were you or a member of your family harmed because of a defective product? If the negligent or reckless actions of a company in the form of a defective product contributed to the harm that you suffered, you might have grounds to pursue a claim. In addition, you might have grounds to fight for monetary compensation. If you are interested in learning more about your time to sue Sears and receive monetary compensation for the harm that you suffered because of their defective microwaves, do not hesitate to seek legal assistance with the experts at our law firm at your earliest convenience.
You could trust the experts at Normandie Law Firm to provide you with the legal assistance that you need to file your claim against Sears for their defective product. The lawyers at Normandie Law Firm have many years of experience handling all sorts of claims and representing the best interests of all victims and their families. Our lawyers are dedicated to helping you and your family to reach a successful claim outcome and recover the compensation that you deserve.
Our firm is committed to making legal representation available to all; therefore, we offer free legal services which include free consultations and free second opinions. During our free consultations and free second opinions, our lawyers will be available to answer all questions and address all concerns – providing all the information necessary to start or continue a product liability claim.
Our firm offers a Zero-Fee guarantee that ensures that our clients will never be required to pay any upfront fees for any of our legal services. Our firm is also strictly based on a contingency structure that ensures that our clients will not have to pay legal fees until after they reach a successful claim outcome. If you do not win, you will not be responsible for paying anything. If you are ready to discuss your product liability claim with the defective product attorneys at Normandie Law Firm, do not hesitate to contact us today.
