Injured sign up for Thermomix class action as a major law firm explores the case

AS a major law firm explores a class action against Thermomix and another tests a cooker that exploded in a user’s face, it’s emerged a child is among the scores hurt.

A burn mark on injured woman Heidi Brennan who was burned by liquid from the family's Thermomix. Picture: Supplied

AS a major law firm explores a class action against Thermomix and another tests a cooker that exploded in a user’s face, it’s emerged a child is among the scores hurt — and that the local distributor made a profit of $40 million last year.

At least 10 people injured while using a Thermomix have told Melbourne-based Slater & Gordon they wish to be part of group legal proceedings. The rate of inquiry has increased since consumer advocates Choice revealed a “mass incident report” of 87 injuries to Thermomix users.

At least 10 people injured while using a Thermomix have told Melbourne-based Slater & Gordon they wish to be part of group legal proceedings. Picture: Supplied.

“That was a real surprise,” said Slater and Gordon senior public liability lawyer Barrie Woollacott. “We didn’t really have any concept as to those sorts of numbers. It increases the prospects of a class action going ahead.

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Meanwhile, Perth’s Kakulas Legal is having an engineer examine a Thermomix TM31 which “exploded”, leaving a woman with first-degree burns.

Kakulas senior lawyer Lian Hall said the woman, who does not want to be named, still has visible marking to her face a year after the incident, which occurred while she was making corned beef.

“In the process of following the recipe from the Thermomix cookbook, this thing explodes. That cannot be right,” Mr Hall said.

Mother Heidi Brennan and her daughter Caitlin Brennan who were both injured by a Thermomix. Picture Norm Oorloff

Melbourne woman Heidi Brennan was also cooking in a TM31 when it started to make a “strange sound”. She turned off the $2000 cooker then released the lid, while carrying her 16-month-old daughter Caitlin on her hip.

“The lid hit the roof and the Thermomix sprayed boiling hot water all over us,” Mrs Brennan, of Aspendale Gardens in Melbourne, said yesterday.

The whole of Caitlin’s right arm was bright red. Mrs Brennan, a paramedic, immediately put her daughter in the shower to lessened the damage. Mrs Brennan had deep burns to both shoulders and an eye.

They were taken to hospital by ambulance. The next day, after they were released, Ms Brennan contacted Thermomix.

“They didn’t really care,” she said.

The arm of Caitlin Brennan, then 1, who was burned by liquid from the family's Thermomix. Picture: Supplied.

The pair had three weeks of treatment in a burns clinic. Caitlin has a scar on her arm. The burn to Mrs Brennan’s eye was confined to the white.

“If it affected my vision, that would have been my job,” she said.

Mrs Brennan came forward after learning of the Choice mass incident report.

The injuries to her and Caitlin occurred in April 2014.

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Brydens Lawyers principal Lee Hagipantelis said if an “injury is caused by reason of a defect in the design or manufacture of the products then there would be a breach of the common law duty of care which would entitle the injured person to claim damages”.

Thermomix in Australia Pty Ltd did not respond to a request for comment.

Its latest annual financial statement, obtained by News Corp Australia, shows it made a gross profit of $39.4 million in 2014-15 on sales of $155 million. The Perth-based owners, Witold and Grazya Mazur, received a $22 million dividend.

Originally published as Injured sign up for Thermomix class action as a major law firm explores the case