Gillette Woman Sues, Claims Pressure Cooker Exploded Hot Food All Over Her

A Gillette woman says in a lawsuit filed Monday that a defective pressure cooker spewed scalding food onto her, causing serious and substantial bodily injuries and damages.

CM
Clair McFarland

December 14, 20223 min read

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Saying hot food blasted from a pressure cooker and scalded her, a Gillette woman is suing the cooker’s New York-based manufacturer in federal court.  

Chelsea Lynn Roan filed a legal complaint against Sensio Inc. in the U.S. District Court for Wyoming on Monday, asking for a jury trial and monetary compensation for economic losses and pain suffered.  

Roan’s complaint says Sensio “touts the ‘safety’ of its pressure cookers, and states that ‘the lid is locked and cannot be opened once pressure is reached.”  

Sensio’s safety note from the product’s owner’s manual, imbedded in the complaint, says, “caution: when cooking under pressure, the lid is locked and cannot be opened once pressure is reached. Do not try to force the lid open.” 

‘Serious And Substantial’ Injuries

The complaint counters that Roan was able to open the lid while the food in the pressure cooker was under pressure, using a normal level of force.  

“Its scalding hot contents (were) forcefully ejected from the pressure cooker and onto (Roan),” the suit reads.  

Roan endured “serious and substantial bodily injuries and damages” from opening the lid, the complaint alleges.  

Roan’s complaint accuses Sensio of putting “profit ahead of safety,” and claims that Sensio still is selling pressure cookers of this type, “demonstrating a callous, reckless, willful and depraved indifference to the health, safety and welfare of (Roan) and others like her.”   

Six Counts To Review 

The lawsuit outlines six allegations against Sensio that Roan hopes to place before a jury.  

• The first is strict liability: The allegation that the pressure cooker was defective. 

• The second is negligence, or that Sensio breached its duty to sell a safe product. 

• The third is negligent design defect, alleging Sensio designed the cooker poorly. 

• The fourth count is a negligent failure to warn, alleging that Sensio should have used “reasonable care” to warn customers of its product’s risks. 

• The fifth charge is a breach of implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, claiming that consumers have a reasonable expectation that the product would be fit for its intended purpose.  

• And the sixth charge alleges breach of implied warranty of merchantability, that the product was fit to be both sold and used.  

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Authors

CM

Clair McFarland

Crime and Courts Reporter