‘Defective’ Black & Decker String Trimmers, Edgers Pose Laceration Hazard, Lawsuit Alleges

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A proposed class action alleges certain Black & Decker string trimmers/edgers with automatic feed spools are defective and pose a significant laceration hazard to consumers, such that the products are “unsafe to operate.” 

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The 41-page lawsuit says that the “design defect” plaguing the Black & Decker products, including those with model numbers BESTA510 and GH900, can cause too much spool to advance from the automatic feeder, which can cause pieces of trimmer string to come loose and become “airborne projectiles.” The filing emphasizes that the apparent defect is “extremely dangerous” to users and bystanders and has rendered the string trimmers/edgers at issue “unsuitable for their principal and intended purpose.” 

“Indeed, many consumers have suffered physical injuries as a result of this defect, including Plaintiff, who suffered a painful and deep laceration to his leg,” the case states. 

Per the suit, Black & Decker has neither recalled the string trimmers/edgers nor rolled out any program to reimburse consumers. The case claims that all Black & Decker string trimmers with the same automatic feed spools and sensors equipped on the BESTA510 and GH900 models suffer from the same defect. 

“The Products are substantially similar: they are all string trimmers and contain the same dangerously defective auto feeding spool and sensor resulting in too much spool being advanced and becoming airborne projectiles,” the filing summarizes, stressing that “[a]bsent a functioning feeding spool, the Products are incapable of use and worthless.” 

According to the complaint, industry standards require trimmers to be designed to “avoid excess advancing of spool past the safety guard.” This can be accomplished by including a manual “bumping” method of advancing spool, which has been available for decades, the filing says. 

“Consumers would not anticipate that a product specifically made for trimming vegetation and marketed as such is designed in a manner that could seriously injure themselves with normal, everyday use,” the case reads. 

As the suit tells it, Black & Decker has put consumers in the position of either continuing to use the dangerous string trimmers or paying for “another expensive replacement product.” 

The lawsuit says Black & Decker, who reportedly continues to sell the products at issue, has placed “the blame and burden” on consumers rather than shoulder “any responsibility for the defect whatsoever.” 

“In other words, Defendant is actively concealing the safety defect,” the complaint alleges. 

The lawsuit claims Black & Decker has known of the apparent defect since at least August 2014, when at least two complaints about the flaw and related injuries linked to “virtually identical” products were submitted to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Moreover, the defendant has come to know of the defect by way of an “unusually large volume” of negative consumer reviews posted online, the filing says. 

The case looks to cover all consumers in California who bought Black & Decker string trimmers/edgers, model numbers BESTA510 and GH900, within the applicable statute of limitations period. 

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