Prize-Winner Says Trophy Stove Burned Her

BRONX (CN) - A woman whose "Fantastic Flounder Rolls" recipe won a prize in Manischewitz's 2008 Cook-Off Contest says the stove she won as a prize set her on fire, giving her third-degree burns that had her "in and out" of the hospital for weeks. "To her misfortune, she won," her attorney David Jaroslawicz said.

Joy Devor of Far Rockaway won a free-standing General Electric Profile TM 30 stove for her flounder rolls. The competition required an original recipe using a Manischewitz product.

(Devor's dish used a full box of Manischewitz Everything Tam Tams, crushed into a mushroom and Spanish onion mixture, spread over four long filets, sautéed in Thousand Island dressing, sprinkled with cornflake crumbs and garnished with parsley and red pepper.)

In September 2008, Turay & Sons Trucking Corp. delivered and installed a new kitchen that included the GE stove. It malfunctioned months later, according to the complaint.

In a telephone interview, Jaroslawicz said his client, a young mother with several children, has been "in and out" of the hospital for weeks for skin-grafting surgeries to treat the extensive third-degree burns to her neck, arm, underarm and flank.

Jaroslawicz said defendants General Electric and Turay & Sons have "stonewalled" his attempts to discover who hired the people to install and deliver the equipment.

"The information we have indicates that the range was not defective," GE spokeswoman Kim Freeman said, adding that the company was not responsible "in any way for this tragic accident."

Devor seeks damages from GE and Turay, for negligence and breach of contract.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit