It doesn’t matter what caused the power outages. What’s important is that the same defect revealed itself time after time, and our clients’ Generac standby generators failed when needed.
Those who live in the hurricane zone understand what it’s like to go through one major storm after another. When a hurricane rips through, you can lose electricity for two or three weeks — sometimes even more. If you depend on power for medical needs or are elderly, having a home standby generator is essential to keep you alive and well.
Genac sells a lot of home standby generators, and the whole point of buying one is to keep power flowing without interruption. As the tagline on the company’s website says, “When the power goes out, you won’t.”
I myself have contemplated buying a Generac generator in the past. It’s a significant investment, costing thousands — if not tens of thousands — of dollars, but the problem is that Generac’s generators contain a known defect that causes them to fail. That’s why my team and I are investigating the possibility of a class-action lawsuit against the company.
Generac generators have a problematic track record
My team and I first heard about the problems with Generac’s generators when some people in the Tampa area got hit by a hurricane. Their standby generators from Generac worked for about half an hour and then stopped working. Some worked for as long as two and a half hours.
Spending good money on a bad product is only one part of the problem. When these generators fail, the stakes can be high.
One of my clients is 77 years old, and his wife needed oxygen. When the storm hit, the electricity went off, and their Generac generator failed. Her medical equipment wouldn’t work, and she couldn’t get the oxygen she needed. He couldn’t pick up the garage door, which was a dead weight without electricity, meaning he couldn’t take her to the hospital. Going without oxygen for a prolonged period of time negatively impacted his wife’s health, and she ended up dying.
Another person we represent is a veteran who needs reliable power for a pressure cuff on her leg that keeps it from swelling and putting her in excruciating pain. When her power went out, her Generac generator only worked for half an hour before shutting off. She was in agony until the power grid came back on after the storm.
These are just a couple of examples.
Generac generators could be defective
Generac is selling generators that it knows will fail. One of my clients said he spoke to a dealer who said their failure rate was about 90%, which is enormous.
Apparently, Generac generators contain a part made in China that doesn’t stand up under actual use. Instead of fixing the problem so their machines work as advertised, the company has a reputation for just replacing the parts after they fail. We’ve been told that when the last hurricane came through Florida this past season, the company sent an entire truck filled with replacement parts, expecting a high failure rate.
Meanwhile, Generac has not disclosed this information in its public statements to investors.
Pursuing justice for victims of Generac
When I initially filed the lawsuit against Generac, I thought we would represent a couple of plaintiffs. Then, a new storm hit, and dozens of other people couldn’t use their generators.
Customers who have been affected by defective Generac generators have been slowly calling us, and we’re adding them to the claim. This possible lawsuit now includes about 50 people, mostly from coastal states affected by hurricanes like Louisiana, Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina, but we also have clients in Texas who lost power during snowstorms or heat waves.
Ultimately, however, it doesn’t matter what caused the power outages. What’s important is that the same defect revealed itself time after time, and our clients’ Generac standby generators failed when needed.
Contact lawyers to be included in this lawsuit
I take these issues very seriously, as I myself was a victim of Hurricane Andrew in 1992. Our lawsuit is in its inception phase — my team and I are actively investigating new claims — and we anticipate that the process of attaining a settlement will take about two years.
If you or someone you know has been harmed by the failure of a Generac standby generator purchased after 2022, please contact our firm to discuss your rights. We are handling this case on a contingency basiswhich means we will not charge clients anything and only take our fees out of the settlement when we win.
If you haven’t purchased a Generac standby generator, we recommend keeping it that way.
