SARASOTA – A Florida woman has filed a lawsuit against SharkNinja Operating, alleging that a defective packaging design of the company’s “Ninja Professional Plus Blender” caused severe injuries to her hand.
Cody Ford, a Sarasota resident, claims in the lawsuit that she suffered “serious and substantial laceration injuries” on February 19, 2023, when she opened the box containing the blender at her bridal shower, according to a complaint filed Jan. 30 in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.
According to the complaint, Ford reached into the packaging and was immediately cut by the loose and unsecured blade assembly inside.
"As a direct and proximate result of Defendant’s intentional concealment of such defects, its failure to remove a product with such defects from the stream of commerce, and its negligent design of such products, Plaintiff used an unreasonably dangerous blender, which resulted in significant and painful bodily injuries," the complaint states. "Consequently, the Plaintiff in this case seeks damages resulting from the use of Defendant’s blender as described above, which has caused the Plaintiff to suffer from serious bodily injuries, medical expenses, physical pain, mental anguish, diminished enjoyment of life, and other damages."
The lawsuit argues that SharkNinja’s failure to properly secure the blender’s sharp blade assembly in the packaging led to Ford’s injuries, which included a severed nerve and two severed tendons in her left pinky finger.
The injury required seven stitches and subsequent medical attention from a hand surgeon.
The lawsuit asserts that SharkNinja has been aware of the risks associated with its loose blade design for years.
In 2015, the company recalled approximately 1.1 million of its Ninja BL660 series blenders due to a similar issue.
The recall, conducted in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), was prompted by 53 reported cases of consumers suffering lacerations from the unsecured blades.
Despite this prior recall, Ford’s lawsuit alleges that SharkNinja continued to sell blenders with the same dangerous design.
The complaint states that the company failed to address the defect, failed to warn consumers of the risk, and did not implement safer alternative packaging or blade-securing mechanisms.
Ford’s lawsuit includes multiple product liability claims, including defective design, failure to warn, and negligence.
The suit contends that SharkNinja’s design of the Ninja blender makes it “unreasonably dangerous” for consumers, particularly due to the blade assembly’s lack of a locking mechanism.
The complaint further argues that safer, economically feasible alternative designs exist that could have prevented the injury.
Ford’s attorneys argue that the company’s continued distribution of blenders with unsecured blades constitutes reckless disregard for consumer safety.
"Defendant failed to exercise ordinary care in the manufacture, sale, warnings, quality assurance, quality control, distribution, advertising, packaging, sale and marketing of its blenders in that Defendant knew or should have known that said blenders created a high risk of unreasonable harm to the Plaintiff and consumers alike," the complaint states.
Ford is seeking damages for medical expenses, physical pain, emotional distress, lost wages and diminished quality of life. She is represented by Lisa A. Gorshe of Johnson Becker in St. Paul.
SharkNinja, a company based in Massachusetts with corporate ties to the United Kingdom, has not publicly responded to the lawsuit.
Attorneys for both parties did not respond to requests for comment before publication.
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida case number: 8:25-cv-00245