Colorado Jury Awards $55.5 Million After Crock-Pot Lid Explodes and Burns Woman Across 13% of Her Body

On June 3, 2019, Georgina Perez was cooking beans in her Sunbeam Express Crock Multi-Cooker (model SCCPPC600V1) at her Colorado home. About twenty minutes after the cooking cycle ended, following the manufacturer's own instructions, the pressure cooker lid detached with force. The explosion sent scalding liquid across her face, neck, arm, and chest, leaving her with second- and third-degree burns covering 13 percent of her body.

The injuries required extensive skin grafts spanning more than two square feet. Damage to her sweat glands was permanent, leaving her unable to regulate body temperature normally. The product, which Sunbeam marketed as safe for home use with a locking lid mechanism, was recalled by Sunbeam in November 2020 after 119 reports of lid detachment and 99 burn injuries.

Perez retained Burg Simpson Eldredge Hersh Jardine, with a team led by Michael Burg alongside Holly Kammerer, Shane Fulton, and Hannah Huston. At trial before U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer, the firm argued strict liability on grounds of design defect, failure to warn, and negligence. The team presented evidence that Sunbeam and parent company Newell Brands had known for years about the lid-detachment hazard and failed to act.

After a five-day trial in December 2024, the jury returned a $55.5 million verdict. It assigned 27 percent of fault to Sunbeam Products Inc. and 63 percent to Newell Brands Inc., with 10 percent apportioned to Perez herself. Punitive damages totaled $50 million: $15 million against Sunbeam and $35 million against Newell Brands.

Judge Brimmer upheld the liability findings and the compensatory framework but applied Colorado's statutory cap on noneconomic and exemplary damages, reducing the final award to approximately $9.1 million. Sunbeam was ordered to pay roughly $3.36 million and Newell Brands roughly $5.75 million. Law Week Colorado listed the gross verdict among the state's top verdicts of 2024.