Cascade Dishwasher Pods Can Explode Due to Defect, Class Action Alleges

A proposed class action lawsuit claims Procter & Gamble (P&G) has failed to warn consumers that a defect can cause its Cascade dishwasher detergent pods to explode.

The 25-page lawsuit says that due to the apparent defect, the single-use, prepackaged Cascade-brand dishwasher detergent pods have the “potential to explode” and spray highly concentrated and dangerous chemical cleaning agents into the air and onto surrounding surfaces, increasing the risk of eye or skin exposure. The Cascade products at issue include, but are not limited to, Cascade Platinum ActionPacs, the suit states.

The case, filed in South Carolina on May 18, says that the alleged explosion risk renders the Cascade pods “unmerchantable” and “unfit for their normal intended use.”

The suit charges that despite knowing that its “explosion prone” detergent pods “were and are unsafe,” P&G has concealed this information about the products, failed to warn consumers of their risks and misrepresented the pods as safe and effective for household use.

“Other manufacturers formulate, produce, and sell non-defective dishwashing detergent pods with formulations that do not cause the packaging to rupture and explode, which is evidence that this explosion risk inherent with P&G’s [products] is demonstrably avoidable,” the case states, calling the dishwasher pods “adulterated, defective, worthless, and unfit for human use.”

Plaintiff suffered chemical burns to eye due to exploding Cascade pod, complaint claims

According to the filing, the plaintiff, a South Carolina resident, bought Cascade Platinum ActionPacs dishwasher pods in January 2023. While loading the dishwasher, the man placed a pod in the pre-wash tray and began to close the dishwasher when the detergent pod suddenly exploded, the lawsuit describes.

The concentrated chemical cleaning agents within the pod spewed into the air and into the plaintiff’s left eye, causing the man “great pain,” the suit says.

After rinsing his eye as instructed on the product’s packaging and still “[seeing] no end to [the] pain,” the plaintiff was hospitalized for five hours, during which an inserted tube continually flushed his eye, the lawsuit says. After “four liters of saline were flushed into Plaintiff’s eye,” lesions were discovered, the case continues.

The plaintiff was later referred to a specialty eye care center and was diagnosed with “25% stem cell death surrounding the cornea,” lesions within the cornea and corneal chemical burns caused by the exposure to cleaning agents, the complaint states.

As the filing tells it, the plaintiff still suffers from “blurred vision and extreme sensitivity to light” as a result of the Cascade detergent pod’s explosion. The ophthalmology center that treated the plaintiff  reports that his injuries “have no clear path for resolution” and that the man’s doctors “cannot predict that [he] will return to his pre-injury condition,” the suit relays.

According to the complaint, no reasonable consumer would have bought the Cascade Platinum pods had P&G disclosed that the pods could “explode and blast chemicals.”

Who’s covered by the lawsuit?

The case looks to represent anyone in the United States who purchased Cascade dishwasher detergent pods within the applicable statute of limitations period.

I bought Cascade dishwasher detergent pods. How can I join the lawsuit?

There’s normally nothing you need to do to join or add your name to a class action lawsuit when it’s first filed. The time to take action is usually if the lawsuit reaches a settlement, at which time the people covered by the deal—known as class members—may be notified directly by email or regular mail with instructions on what to do next.

Remember, it can take months or even years for a class action lawsuit to be resolved.

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