Microwave Investigation: Newly Filed Class Action Lawsuit

NewsChannel5 warned you about microwave ovens mysteriously catching fire. Now, a class action lawsuit was just filed in federal court.
The nationwide, class action lawsuit comes just days after NewsChannel5 aired the story and now alleges that millions of consumers could be affected.
Microwave Class-Action Lawsuit
The lawsuit alleges defects make GE microwave ovens "unreasonably dangerous and unsuitable for their intended use."
Fire officials blamed a GE microwave oven for a fire in Hudson.
Investigators said it was a microwave that wasn't turned on or cooking a thing.
The Hudson homeowner said, "The firefighter told us five more minutes (and) we would have lost our whole first floor. Not to mention it could have been our whole house."
The lawsuit alleges that General Electric "should have known these microwave ovens were defective since at least 2003."
Hasaan Zavareei, a Washington, D.C., attorney, is representing plaintiffs' claims.
Zavareei said, "Dangerous defects that cause the microwaves to, without any user interface, just catch on fire. (They) turn on ... potentially when they're there and sometimes when they're not and remain on until they catch on fire."
The 5 On Your Side investigation is being credited with bringing even more complaints forward.
"Ron Regan, the reporter in Cleveland, has done a fantastic job of identifying instances where these fires have occurred and bringing those stories to life. And since the story has run we have received an amazing amount of feedback of other instances, similar instances that are going to be helpful to us in this litigation," Zavareei said.
This lawsuit now claims victims in 20 states.
Exact model numbers have not been released, but the lawsuit claims 20 different models are affected.
GE declined NewsChannel5's request for a comment until they can review the lawsuit. You can take a look at the lawsuit here.
Meanwhile, if consumers have a problem to report, they should call the Consumer Product Safety Commission at this number:

• 1-800-638-2772