Families sued Hasbro, Inc. in 2007 after its Easy-Bake Oven Model 65805 trapped children’s hands inside the heating chamber, causing burns that in one case required a partial finger amputation. The lawsuits followed two federal recalls covering roughly one million ovens, and at least one federal case, Overen v. Hasbro, ended in a reported settlement. This is what the Easy-Bake Oven lawsuit history actually looks like.
The Defect at the Center of the Claims
Every suit traces back to the same product: the Easy-Bake Oven Model 65805, a front-loading design Hasbro began selling in the United States in May 2006. The oven’s front opening was wide enough for a young child to push a hand into the heating chamber, where fingers could become trapped against the hot interior.1CPSC.gov. Easy-Bake Ovens Recalled for Repair Due to Entrapment and Burn Hazards
On February 6, 2007, the CPSC and Hasbro announced a recall of about 985,000 units after 29 reports of entrapment, including five burns. Hasbro did not pull the ovens from homes. It offered a free retrofit kit instead.2CBS News. Easy-Bake Ovens Recalled
The retrofit did not fix the problem. By July 2007 the CPSC had logged 249 additional entrapment reports, 77 of them involving burns, 16 of those second- or third-degree. A five-year-old girl’s burn was severe enough to require a partial finger amputation.3CPSC.gov. New Easy-Bake Oven Recall Following Partial Finger Amputation On July 19, 2007, Hasbro announced a full recall of about one million units, explicitly including ovens that had already received the retrofit kit. CPSC spokeswoman Julie Vallese said the commission did not know how many of the 249 later injuries had happened in ovens that had already been “repaired.”4NBC News. Easy-Bake Ovens Recalled After Finger Amputation ABC News attributed the expanded recall partly to a “weak response” to the February action, meaning many defective ovens sat in homes with children for months.5ABC News. Easy-Bake Oven Recall
The Mississippi $1.2 Million Case
Among the earliest suits, the family of a six-year-old Mississippi girl sought $1.2 million from Hasbro. The child’s hand had been stuck inside an Easy-Bake Oven for more than three hours, and emergency room doctors used a bone saw to cut the device off. The family’s attorney urged Hasbro to “take responsibility for recklessly allowing a dangerous product to stay on the market.”6Law.com. Easy-Bake Oven Lawsuit The final outcome of the case is not reflected in the available record.
Overen v. Hasbro
The most fully documented case is Overen v. Hasbro, Inc., filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota. Shannon Overen sued on behalf of her daughter, identified as A.G., who suffered serious burns to her left hand on December 16, 2006, after it became trapped in a Model 65805. The complaint brought eight counts: negligence, strict product liability, breach of express warranty, breach of implied warranty, false representation, violation of Minnesota’s False Advertising Act, violation of Minnesota’s Consumer Fraud Act, and violation of federal Consumer Product Safety Act reporting requirements.7GovInfo. Overen v. Hasbro, Inc., Case No. 07-1430
On September 12, 2007, U.S. District Judge Richard H. Kyle granted Hasbro’s motion for judgment on the pleadings as to three counts. The Consumer Product Safety Act claim was dismissed with prejudice after Overen conceded it. The two Minnesota consumer protection claims were dismissed without prejudice because the court found she was seeking personal damages for her daughter’s injury rather than relief that provided a “public benefit,” which Minnesota requires for private enforcement of those statutes.7GovInfo. Overen v. Hasbro, Inc., Case No. 07-1430
The core injury claims survived: negligence, strict liability, and breach of warranty all continued past the pleadings stage. In December 2008, Law360 reported that Hasbro settled a lawsuit brought by the family of a child who suffered serious burns to his left hand from an Easy-Bake Oven, with Erstad & Riemer and Messerli Kramer involved. The facts closely track Overen, though the settlement terms were not publicly disclosed.8Law360. Hasbro Inc. Settles Easy-Bake Oven Suit
The 2024 Poisoning Claim Was Not a Lawsuit
A separate episode sometimes gets grouped with the litigation but does not belong there. In early 2024, Massachusetts mother Stephanie Murphy went viral on TikTok claiming a new Easy-Bake Oven had sickened her family after they baked a red velvet cake. Her daughter’s oxygen level dropped to 89, and doctors initially suspected carbon monoxide poisoning, but home tests for carbon monoxide, lead, and mold came back negative.9People. Mom Claims Easy-Bake Oven Poisoned Family10New York Post. Easy-Bake Oven Blamed for Family’s Carbon Monoxide Poisoning A Hasbro spokesperson said the company was “confident that there is nothing in the design of the Easy Bake Oven or Easy Bake mixes that could cause the symptoms described.” No lawsuit was filed, and the cause of the family’s symptoms was never publicly identified.