Class Action Claiming Walmart Mainstays Candles Catch Fire, Explode Transferred to Ohio
by Erin Shaak
Ellebracht v. Walmart Inc. et al.
Filed: August 17, 2021 ◆§ 1:21-cv-00527
A class action lawsuit alleges Mainstays candle buyers were not warned that the products can become engulfed in flames or explode due to a potential defect.
Walmart, Inc. CL Products International, LLC Candle-Lite Company, LLC Luminex Home Décor and Fragrance Company
Ohio
A proposed class action that alleges Mainstays candle buyers were not warned that the products can become engulfed in flames or explode due to a potential defect has been transferred to Ohio federal court.
The case, initially filed in May 2020 in Missouri, alleges Walmart and co-defendants CL Products International, LLC; Candle-Lite Company, LLC; and Luminex Home Décor and Fragrance Company have continued making and selling the potentially dangerous candles despite receiving numerous reports of buyers having experienced “excessive flames, flames that cannot be blown out or extinguished, flammable wax, and candles that explode while burning.”
An amended complaint filed in November 2020 claims the Mainstays candles have damaged consumers’ ceilings and, in some cases, caused “a shower of glass, melted wax, and/or burning wax” to explode into the area where the candle was burning.
The lawsuit alleges that despite their awareness of the alleged defect, the defendants have failed to warn consumers about the potential dangers of using Mainstays candles, and represented instead that they are completely safe.
The lawsuit states that CL Products, Candle-Lite and Luminex manufacture the Mainstays-branded candles for sale exclusively by Walmart and its subsidiaries. Per the case, the candles’ labels contain no warning about their potential to produce excessive flames, flames that cannot be extinguished, burning wax and explosions. Instead, the defendants have, according to the lawsuit, “sought to create, and did create, an image of the candles that would lead a reasonable consumer to believe Defendants’ Mainstays candles were completely safe for use.”
The plaintiff, a Jackson County, Missouri resident, claims to have purchased one of the defendants’ Mainstays candles in early February 2018 and had the candle burning on a bathroom counter near a sink, where the product was not touching or adjacent to anything but the level surface on which it sat.
“There were no objects or loose materials above or near the candle. There were no open windows or appreciable drafts in the bathroom. The water in the sink was not running and the faucet was not dripping,” the complaint specifies.
After burning for an hour or less, the candle “became engulfed in high flames” that seemed to involve the whole exposed surface of the candle, according to the suit. The case says the flames were so high that they began to blacken the ceiling “after a very short period of time.” Per the case, the plaintiff, fearing a house fire, “pushed the candle across the counter and into the bathroom sink,” where the product immediately exploded.
“Flaming wax splattered all over the bathroom and onto Plaintiff,” the complaint relays.
According to the suit, the plaintiff suffered a second-degree burn on her thigh that required medical attention, in addition to related physical and emotional injuries, as a result of the incident. Moreover, the case says the plaintiff incurred not only lost time from work and school when she was unable to walk, but costs related to medical treatment, damage to her bathroom and the price of the Mainstays candle.
The lawsuit claims the defendants had notice as early as March 2016 of other instances in which Mainstays candles allegedly caused injuries and damages to consumers. Per the suit, other consumers had called Walmart’s customer service line and posted on the retailer’s Facebook page about “dangerous experiences that they had with Mainstays candles,” including “flames several feet high that could not be blown out; candles in which all the wax was liquified and aflame; candles causing scorching or smoke damage to ceilings; and candles exploding while burning, creating a shower of glass, melted wax, and/or burning wax.” The case suspects CL Products, Candle-Lite and Luminex are also aware of these reports.
Nevertheless, the defendants have continued to manufacture and sell Mainstays candles without warning customers of the potential defect or instructing them on how to handle situations in which the candles become engulfed in flames or explode, the filing alleges. The suit additionally claims Walmart and the candlemakers have failed to take any steps to prevent the defect from manifesting or address the damages that have allegedly been caused by the product:
“Defendants have failed to disclose the existence of this defect to Plaintiff and other customers and purchasers, have failed to recall the defective candles, and have failed to reimburse Plaintiff and other purchasers for the cost of purchasing the defective candles and/or the injuries and damages they suffered as a result of Defendants’ conduct.”
The amended complaint can be read below.
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