Appellate Court affirms decision in GE dishwasher recall case

Daily Record (Rochester, NY), Mar 11, 2003 by Daily Record Staff

The Appellate Division, First Department, has upheld a New York State Supreme Court decision, ordering General Electric to pay restitution to thousands of customers who bought new dishwashers when a quick, inexpensive repair was available.

"I am pleased that the Appellate Division of the State Supreme Court has upheld an important decision for consumers that found General Electric engaged in fraud and deceptive business practices during its 1999 recall of 3.1 million fire prone dishwashers," said New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

The decision also affirms a lower court's order requiring GE to publicize the decision in newspapers across the state and to pay for a third party administrator to send letters notifying consumers about GE's false and fraudulent statements to all who participated in the rebate program or who contacted GE about the recall. GE is also required to publish notice of a consumer's right to a free repair to ensure that the fire hazard is eliminated.