Dehumidifier Recall Announced Again

Dallas, TXA dehumidifier recall that was announced in September 2013 is being announced again, with the company that makes the appliance reminding people that certain Gree dehumidifiers have been recalled. According to the renewed recall, not all consumers heeded the warning, and incident reports involving fires and burns have increased dramatically since the recall was initially announced.

A recall of certain Gree dehumidifiers was initially announced in September 2013. It was updated in October 2013 and expanded in January 2014, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Included in the recall were various sizes of dehumidifiers, sold under brand names such as Danby, Frigidaire, Gree, Kenmore and various other brand names.

The original recall was announced due to reports of the dehumidifiers overheating, smoking and catching fire, potentially causing property damage and posing a risk of burn injuries to consumers.

“The number of reported incidents of overheating dehumidifiers has increased nearly 400 percent from 119 in the original recall (September 2013) to 471 reported incidents,” the CPSC noted in the renewed recall. Furthermore, the number of reported fires increased by more than 200 percent (from 46 to 121) and the property damage total increased from $2.15 million to almost $4.5 million.

The CPSC advises that consumers should stop using the dehumidifiers and unplug them. The recall notice is 14-179.

Gree faces a lawsuit filed by Soleus International, one of the companies that sold Gree dehumidifiers, alleging Gree had been warned about potential defects in the products but pressured Soleus to hide those complaints. According to court documents in the lawsuit (MJC America, Ltd and MJC America Holdings Co., Inc., vs. Gree Electric Appliances, Inc., case number 2:13-cv-04264 in the US District Court for the Central District of California), MJC (doing business as Soleus) began receiving complaints in July 2012 about the dehumidifiers and reported those problems to Gree.

“While Defendant Gree China denied there were any problems, it soon became clear, through numerous independent investigations and tests commissioned by both Plaintiff MJC and third parties, that the dehumidifiers manufactured by Defendant Gree China were both defectively designed and encased in a non-fire retardant plastic,” court documents state. Soleus goes on to allege that Gree continued to deny that there were problems with the dehumidifiers and pressured MJC to cover up complaints about overheating and/or fire.

When Soleus told Gree it was obligated to report complaints to the CPSC, the defendant allegedly “engaged in a campaign to intimidate Plaintiff MJC and financially destroy both it and Gree USA.”