Whirlpool sat on 157 self-igniting cooktop reports before telling anyone

Starting in November 2017 and continuing into 2019, Whirlpool received numerous consumer reports that the surface elements on 17 models of its JennAir, KitchenAid and Whirlpool-brand electric radiant heat cooktops could turn on by themselves — a defect capable of igniting nearby objects.

US law requires a manufacturer to immediately report a defect that could create a substantial product hazard. Whirlpool had information reasonably supporting that conclusion well before it filed anything with the CPSC. By the time it reported, the company had accumulated at least 157 reports of the cooktops self-activating, including 14 reports of property damage, four reports of objects igniting, and two reports of minor burns.

Whirlpool and the CPSC jointly announced a recall on August 28, 2019. Four years later, on August 24, 2023, Whirlpool agreed to pay an $11.5 million civil penalty for the reporting delay itself — separate from the recall — and to maintain enhanced internal compliance controls with three years of annual reporting to the Commission.