A lawsuit has been filed against a major kitchen appliance manufacturer, alleging that one of its products is dangerously defective. Melissa Wensil initiated the complaint in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on November 11, 2025, targeting Breville USA, Inc., a company known for its consumer kitchen products.
The case revolves around Breville’s “Fast Slow Pressure Cooker,” specifically model BPR600XL. The plaintiff, Melissa Wensil, claims that despite Breville’s assurances of safety features such as a “safety locking lid” and other mechanisms designed to prevent the lid from opening while pressurized, these features failed. On November 15, 2023, Wensil suffered severe burn injuries when she was able to open the pressure cooker lid while it was still pressurized, causing scalding contents to be ejected onto her. The complaint highlights a previous recall of approximately 35,600 units of this product in December 2015 due to similar issues reported by consumers. Wensil accuses Breville of negligence for not adequately addressing these defects or warning consumers about them.
Wensil’s lawsuit seeks compensatory damages for her injuries and associated costs such as medical expenses and lost wages. Additionally, she is pursuing punitive damages due to what she describes as Breville’s willful ignorance and concealment of the product’s dangers. Her legal team argues that safer alternative designs were available but ignored by Breville in favor of continued profits from sales.
Represented by attorneys Michael G. Phelan and Christopher P. Yakubisin from Phelan Petty PLC in Richmond, Virginia, along with Adam J. Kress and Anna R. Rick from Johnson Becker PLLC in St. Paul, Minnesota (pending pro hac vice admission), Wensil demands a jury trial to resolve her claims against Breville USA Inc., identified as a California corporation with headquarters in Torrance.
Case ID: 1:25-cv-02013
Source: 125cv02013_Wensil_v_Breville_USA_Inc_Complaint_Eastern_District_Virginia.pdf
