Numerous owners of the gas absorption refrigerators filed a class action suit on June 24, 2016. These individuals filed class-action claims against Dometic Corporation, the company responsible for manufacturing these refrigerators. In the class-action claims, the owners stated that the refrigerators leak flammable gas. Allegedly, this leaked flammable gas has been the cause of many fires.
In the class action suit, the owners allege that the Dometic Corporation knew about the defective gas absorption refrigerators. These refrigerators are usually found on RVs and boats and they have caused more than 3,000 fires in the past two decades. Since 1997, these defective gas absorption refrigerators have allegedly caused $100 million in personal injuries and property damage. Despite the lengthy history of these defective refrigerators, the Dometic Corporation failed to address the issue and warn consumers about the risks.
However, it is important to note that not all named plaintiffs for the class action suit have actually experienced a fire due to the defective refrigerators. Some of the named plaintiffs claim that they suffered economic damages due to the Dometic Corporation’s failure to address the issue or provide adequate warning. The plaintiffs claim they paid far more for the boats and RVs than they would have if they knew about the defective refrigerators.
Zimmerman Reed, a law firm, claims that the plaintiffs should not be required to wait until they have experienced a refrigerator fire to seek compensation for the issue. According to the law firm, forgoing preventative action could cost the plaintiffs heavily. This is especially true if the plaintiffs were to experience a refrigerator fire in the future.
This is not the first time the Dometic Corporation has had issues with their manufacturer products. In 2006, the Dometic Corporation recalled refrigerators to replace the cooling units. The Dometic Corporation did so once more in 2008. However, the plaintiffs argue that this is irrelevant because the two recalls did nothing to address the defects of their refrigerators. According to the class action suit, the refrigerators have defective cooling unit boiler tubes, which can corrode and leak flammable gas.
Zimmerman Reed learned about the defective refrigerators of the Dometic Corporation during a three-year class action suit against Norcold, a competitor of the Dometic Corporation. This class action suit settled for $36 million early this year.
