2 Long Islanders sue Weber, alleging serious injuries from grill brushes

Two Long Islanders have filed separate federal lawsuits against Weber, the popular American grill company, alleging the company knowingly sold defective grill brushes that caused serious injuries to themselves or their family members.

A man from Nassau County suffered a serious eye injury, and a child from Suffolk underwent two surgeries after a bristle fragment lodged in his throat, according to the suits, which were filed in New York's Eastern District Court on April 1 and March 20, respectively. 

The lawsuits are seeking an undetermined amount of money after Weber issued a recall on Feb. 26 for more than 3.2 million metal wire grill brushes. 

Joseph Ciaccio, an attorney representing both Long Island plaintiffs, said he's filed a third case for clients in New Jersey alleging similar injuries. Separately, a class action lawsuit was filed in federal court in Illinois against the grill company for failing to warn customers that the recalled brushes posed an ingestion hazard.

“We’ve been contacted by a bunch of people and are preparing additional lawsuits that haven’t been filed yet, both here in New York and in different areas of the country,” said Ciaccio, who is with Napoli Shkolnik PLLC in Melville.

Bruce Lynch, 65, of New Hyde Park, sued Weber and Amazon, where he bought the product, alleging that a brush bristle broke while he was cleaning his outdoor grill in 2023 and entered his right eye, scarring his cornea.

Rust from the fragment had to be removed from his cornea over multiple doctor visits, and his “pain, suffering, corneal scarring, and sequelae continue,” the suit alleges.

Shiraz Cooper, 59, of Northport, filed suit on behalf of his son against Weber and Target, where he and his family bought their grill brush. According to court records, bristle fragments clung to a hamburger cooked on the family’s outdoor grill last May and a large piece became lodged in his then-10-year-old son’s throat.

An X-ray at Good Samaritan University Hospital in West Islip confirmed there was an 11-millimeter wire in the child's throat, and surgeons were unable to extricate the wire during a laryngoscopy the next day, according to the suit.

The boy had a second surgery to remove the wire at Cohen’s Children’s Medical Center in Queens, the suit says.

The Weber recall, which encompassed six different brush models, warned that metal bristles could break off and be ingested, causing “serious internal injury,” potentially requiring surgery. The suits allege brushes included in the recall caused serious injuries in recent years. 

According to court records, Weber has admitted that they were “aware of at least 38 reports and reviews where small wire bristles detached from the grill brushes, including four reports of consumers who swallowed metal bristles and sought medical treatment to remove the bristles from their digestive tract or throat.”

The company knew, or had reason to know, that the bristles could detach during use and failed to warn customers about the risk, the suits claim.

Weber, Target and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The February recall is Weber's first in nearly 20 years. The company has recalled gas grills in 2007 and 2003.