All About The Ryobi Mower Battery Lawsuit

In February 2025, Ryobi announced a recall of certain models of its 40V walk-behind mowers, citing a potential defect with a connector inside the powerhead. At the time of the recall notice, Ryobi's parent company, TTI, had received 97 reports that the affected mowers had overheated while they were in use. Five of those incidents reportedly resulted in fires, with two of those leading to the operator of the mower receiving minor burns.

The recall does not state exactly when TTI received these reports, but does note that the affected mowers were sold between February 2021 and January 2025. The recalled mowers were sold at national retailers, including Home Depot and Direct Tools Factory Outlet. Affected models included RY401014BTLUS, RY401014US, RY401140US, RY401015BTLUS, RY401015US, RY401150US, RY401140US-Y, RY401150US-Y, RY401020, and RY401200. Around 217,500 examples in the U.S. were included in the recall, plus a further 28,400 units in Canada.

In response to this recall, an owner of one of the affected mowers filed a class action lawsuit against Ryobi and its parent company, TTI. The lawsuit alleges that Ryobi misrepresented the mowers as being fit for purpose when they were in fact defective and highlights several alleged shortcomings with the recall process.

The class action lawsuit alleges that Ryobi's recall may "leav[e] some consumers potentially without recourse," since owners have to provide proof of ownership, such as a serial number or purchase receipt, in order to receive a replacement product. The complaint also takes issue with the replacement mower being offered by the toolmaker because the replacements "are expected to be 'tool-only,' meaning they will not include batteries or chargers."

According to the lawsuit, the defective connector on the recalled mowers means that all buyers of the mower have suffered losses, as "no reasonable consumer [...] would have purchased the products had they known" that they could potentially catch fire. The complaint asks for damages for those alleged losses and includes all buyers who purchased an affected mower within the statute of limitations.

The lawsuit was first filed on February 21, 2025, around two weeks after TTI initially announced the recall. Ryobi filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in April 2025, but the case remains ongoing at the time of writing.

The current Ryobi mower battery lawsuit is not the first time that the toolmaker has been accused of selling mowers with a design defect. In 2016, a court ruled that Ryobi was liable for negligence after an 88-year-old man was killed when his ride-on Ryobi lawn mower caught fire due to a fuel leak. The ruling left Ryobi facing a $2.5 million payout to the estate of the deceased man.

Ryobi has also issued a string of other recalls in recent years, covering a variety of products from sanders to battery chargers. At the time of writing, the most recent Ryobi recall concerns the brand's 40V 24-Inch cordless hedge trimmers. According to the recall notice, the hedge trimmer can potentially activate after pressing only the trigger or safety control buttons, rather than both simultaneously. This makes the hedge trimmer a potential safety hazard due to the risk of laceration, with Ryobi offering replacement units for all affected trimmers.