EvilCorporations.com | Corporate Accountability Project | Case Filed March 2026
A.O. Smith Corporation · Class Action · 2020–2026
A.O. Smith Sold Millions of Water Heaters With Defective Plastic Valves It Knew Would Fail
A $3.8 billion company quietly swapped durable brass components for cheap plastic parts, flooded homeowners’ basements, then handed them more of the same broken parts as a “fix.”
🔴 Critical Severity
TL;DR
A.O. Smith, one of North America’s largest water heater manufacturers with nearly $3.8 billion in annual sales, knowingly installed defective plastic drain valves in millions of residential water heaters sold under the A.O. Smith, State, and Reliance brand names. These valves crack, warp, and fail under normal household conditions, causing uncontrolled flooding that has destroyed flooring, drywall, cabinetry, and electrical systems in homes across the country. The company knew about the failure pattern from consumer complaints, service technician reports, and its own data. Instead of issuing a recall or switching to durable brass valves, A.O. Smith continued to sell the same defective units and, when customers complained, sent them replacement parts made of the same defective plastic. A 2026 federal class action filed in Milwaukee exposes this conduct as fraudulent concealment, breach of warranty, and consumer fraud on a national scale.
This is not a manufacturing mistake. This is a business decision to prioritize cost savings over the safety and financial wellbeing of millions of American homeowners. Demand accountability.
$3.8B
A.O. Smith record sales in 2022
$5,000
Out-of-pocket losses for lead plaintiff alone
8–12 yrs
Expected water heater lifespan (valves fail far sooner)
>$5M
Aggregate damages threshold alleged
150 yrs
A.O. Smith in business since 1874
3 brands
A.O. Smith, State, and Reliance all affected
Core Allegations
What A.O. Smith Did
Core Allegations · 8 points
| 01 | A.O. Smith equipped millions of residential water heaters with plastic, glass-filled nylon drain valves instead of industry-standard brass valves, knowing the plastic valves were prone to premature failure under normal household conditions. | high |
| 02 | The plastic valves degrade, crack, warp, and lose their watertight seal when exposed to hot, chlorinated municipal water, the exact environment they are designed to operate in for 8 to 12 years. | high |
| 03 | Valve failures frequently occur the first time a homeowner performs the annual flushing maintenance that A.O. Smith itself recommends, meaning the company’s own maintenance instructions trigger the defect. | high |
| 04 | A.O. Smith’s marketing described its water heaters as built with “innovative technology,” “high-quality components,” and “energy-efficient solutions” while concealing that key safety components were made of failure-prone plastic. | high |
| 05 | When consumers filed warranty claims, A.O. Smith sent replacement plastic drain valves made of the same defective material, perpetuating the cycle of flooding and property damage rather than resolving it. | high |
| 06 | A.O. Smith manufactures the defective valves through its own parts division, APCOM Inc., giving the company direct and exclusive control over the materials, design, and specifications of the faulty components. | med |
| 07 | The defect applies to products sold under multiple brand names, including A.O. Smith, State, and Reliance, sold through major retailers such as Lowe’s and Ace Hardware, affecting consumers nationwide. | high |
| 08 | A.O. Smith’s failure to disclose the defect, issue a recall, or switch to brass valves constitutes fraudulent concealment under federal and state law, according to the class action complaint filed March 16, 2026. | high |
Profit Over People
Revenue Prioritized Over Consumer Safety
Profit Over People · 5 points
| 01 | A.O. Smith chose plastic over brass to cut manufacturing costs, internally marketing the APCOM plastic valves as “cost-effective” alternatives while claiming they offered comparable performance, a claim the complaint alleges is false. | high |
| 02 | The company reported record sales of approximately $3.8 billion in 2022, profits generated in part by selling products the company allegedly knew contained a defective component that would shift significant repair costs onto consumers. | high |
| 03 | Consumers who experienced flooding paid out-of-pocket for remediation because A.O. Smith’s warranty practices did not provide an adequate remedy. Lead plaintiff Vincent Yeung incurred approximately $5,000 in personal repair costs. | high |
| 04 | In Yeung’s case, A.O. Smith required him to pay the price difference when upgrading to a replacement unit and then refused to provide a warranty on the new water heater, compounding the financial harm. | high |
| 05 | Brass drain valves are a well-known, readily available, and durable alternative. A.O. Smith’s decision to use plastic instead transferred the financial risk of product failure from the corporation to individual homeowners. | med |
Economic Fallout
Financial Harm to Homeowners
Economic Fallout · 5 points
| 01 | Valve failures cause uncontrolled water discharge from water heaters holding 30 to 80 gallons of hot pressurized water, resulting in flooded basements, destroyed flooring, ruined drywall, damaged cabinetry, mold growth, and electrical hazards. | high |
| 02 | Because water heaters are typically installed out of daily view in basements, utility rooms, or closets, failures can go undetected for extended periods, allowing flooding to cause maximum damage before discovery. | high |
| 03 | Consumers paid a premium price for water heaters marketed as durable and long-lasting. A water heater with a defective drain valve is worth substantially less than what consumers paid, constituting a direct financial loss from the point of purchase. | high |
| 04 | Some consumers, including lead plaintiff Yeung, experienced multiple flooding events across multiple A.O. Smith units, demonstrating that the company’s “solution” of providing replacement plastic valves does not resolve the underlying defect. | high |
| 05 | The aggregate amount in controversy in the class action exceeds $5 million, and the class is believed to include several thousand similarly situated consumers whose individual losses make individual litigation financially impractical. | med |
Public Health and Safety
Home Safety Risks
Public Health and Safety · 5 points
| 01 | Catastrophic valve failure releases large volumes of hot, pressurized water into living spaces, creating electrical hazards where water contacts wiring, outlets, or appliances, posing direct risk of electrocution or fire. | high |
| 02 | Water intrusion from valve failures promotes mold growth within walls, subfloors, and structural framing, creating long-term respiratory health hazards for occupants, including children and elderly residents. | high |
| 03 | The degradation mechanism (chlorine and chloramine reacting with the plastic valve materials) is not visible, not detectable by ordinary consumers, and not disclosed in any A.O. Smith product documentation. | high |
| 04 | Even valves that have never been opened are at risk: heat accelerates degradation of the elastomeric seal inside the closed valve, meaning failure can occur spontaneously without any homeowner interaction. | high |
| 05 | A.O. Smith’s warranty remedy of replacing defective plastic valves with identical plastic valves leaves the safety risk fully intact, providing consumers with a false sense of resolution while the underlying hazard persists. | high |
Corporate Accountability Failures
How A.O. Smith Avoided Accountability
Corporate Accountability Failures · 6 points
| 01 | Despite receiving numerous complaints from consumers, plumbers, and service technicians reporting valve failures, A.O. Smith did not issue a recall, redesign the valve, or notify customers of the known defect. | high |
| 02 | When consumers’ water heaters failed, A.O. Smith routinely blamed homeowners or installers for the damage rather than acknowledging the product defect, according to the complaint, effectively denying warranty coverage through misdirection. | high |
| 03 | A.O. Smith’s express warranty contained limitations the complaint characterizes as unconscionable, including time limits that are inadequate to cover the product’s expected service life and terms that unreasonably favor the company over consumers. | med |
| 04 | The company made no attempt to proactively notify purchasers of the defect, even as complaints accumulated online across multiple consumer review platforms, Reddit, and professional plumbing forums. | high |
| 05 | A.O. Smith continued to sell water heaters with the defective plastic valves throughout the entire period covered by the complaint, from approximately 2020 to 2026, despite accumulating evidence of the systemic failure pattern. | high |
| 06 | The statute of limitations on consumer claims was tolled, the complaint argues, because A.O. Smith’s active concealment of the defect prevented consumers from discovering the true cause of their flooding and property damage. | med |
Timeline of Events
January 2020
Lead plaintiff Vincent Yeung purchases a Reliance 6-40-UNBRT 400 water heater equipped with a plastic drain valve from an A.O. Smith-affiliated product line.
July 2023
Yeung’s plastic drain valve leaks, causing substantial water damage to surrounding flooring, cabinetry, and drywall. He contacts A.O. Smith, which ships a replacement plastic drain valve and requires Yeung to pay shipping costs.
Early 2025
Yeung experiences a second leak from the replacement plastic drain valve. A.O. Smith requires him to pay the price difference for a replacement water heater and refuses to provide a warranty on the new unit.
June 26, 2024
A Reddit thread titled “F*** you AoSmith and your plastic drain valves” gains traction in the plumbing community, reflecting widespread public awareness of the defect among homeowners and tradespeople.
January 16, 2026
Plaintiff sends a pre-suit demand letter to A.O. Smith Corporation notifying it of CLRA violations and providing an opportunity to correct its business practices.
March 16, 2026
Class action complaint (Case No. 2:26-cv-00422-JPS) filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin against A.O. Smith Corporation, seeking relief for a nationwide class of affected consumers.
Direct Quotes from the Legal Record
QUOTE 1
Company knew about failure rates
Core Allegations
“Defendant knew that the plastic drain valves it uses in its residential water heaters were defective because those valves were failing at rates far exceeding what is expected within the water-heater industry and far above the failure rates associated with standard brass drain valves.”
💡 This quote establishes that A.O. Smith had specific, quantitative knowledge that its plastic valves were failing at abnormal rates compared to brass alternatives, and chose to continue selling them anyway.
QUOTE 2
Failure triggered by recommended maintenance
Core Allegations
“For many consumers, the Defect manifests itself immediately after performing the routine flushing maintenance that A.O. Smith itself recommends, a clear indication that the valve cannot withstand the ordinary and intended use of the product.”
💡 A.O. Smith’s own maintenance instructions cause the defect to emerge, meaning following the company’s guidance destroys the very component it asks you to maintain.
QUOTE 3
Material deficiency: heat accelerates degradation even when valve is closed
Public Health and Safety
“Even when the drain valve remains in the closed position, the elevated water temperatures inherent to normal water heater operation accelerate this degradation, causing the elastomeric sealing material to weaken and the plastic stem to embrittle, fracture, and disintegrate.”
💡 The valve fails even without any homeowner interaction. There is no safe behavior that prevents this outcome; it is a design failure baked into every unit from the moment of installation.
QUOTE 4
Company concealed the defect and blamed consumers
Corporate Accountability Failures
“When consumers’ water heaters leaked or failed, Defendant routinely blamed homeowners or installers and denied warranty coverage. Defendant never disclosed that the true cause of the leaking was the foreseeable degradation and failure of the plastic drain valve it selected and installed in the units.”
💡 A.O. Smith actively deflected responsibility onto consumers whose homes were flooded by a defect the company knew existed, denying warranty claims rather than fixing the problem.
QUOTE 5
Consumer describes getting a defective replacement out of the box
Corporate Accountability Failures
“Out of the box it was defective with the cheap plastic drain at the bottom being broken. We called and were told to take it back. We had the plumber remove it and put in a quality brass drain at the bottom that will not clog rather than the cheap junk AO Smith uses to cut every corner to make it as cheap as possible.”
💡 A consumer received a brand-new unit already defective, confirming that the quality control failure is systemic and not limited to units already in service.
QUOTE 6
Chloramine accelerates valve destruction
Public Health and Safety
“Chloramine is particularly aggressive and has been shown to accelerate degradation of polymer and rubber components beyond that caused by conventional chlorine.”
💡 Chloramine is a standard disinfectant in municipal water supplies across the United States. A.O. Smith selected valve materials that are chemically incompatible with the water that flows through them in most American homes.
QUOTE 7
Warranty replacement perpetuates the defect
Corporate Accountability Failures
“In response to a warranty claim involving the Defect, A.O. Smith provides consumers with the same defective plastic drain valve, which inevitably leaks again and causes more water damage and costs its customers even more in out-of-pocket expenses to remediate the damage caused by the Defect.”
💡 A.O. Smith’s warranty process does not fix the problem. It restarts the damage cycle, guaranteeing future flooding events and additional financial losses for the same consumers.
QUOTE 8
Brass would have prevented every failure
Profit Over People
“Had A.O. Smith used a brass drain valve, the valve would not have suffered the same defect and would have been far more durable, resistant to corrosion and thermal distortion, and capable of maintaining a reliable seal throughout the life of the unit.”
💡 The fix was simple, known, and available. A.O. Smith chose not to use it. Every flooded basement, every destroyed floor, every mold-infested wall was preventable.
Commentary
What exactly is wrong with A.O. Smith’s drain valves?
A.O. Smith uses plastic valves made of glass-filled nylon instead of the industry-standard brass. These plastic valves degrade when exposed to hot, chlorinated or chloraminated water (the kind in virtually every American home). The internal seal weakens, the plastic stem cracks, and the valve loses its watertight integrity. This causes uncontrolled leaking, often gallons at a time, from water heaters holding 30 to 80 gallons of hot pressurized water. The failure can happen the first time a homeowner performs recommended annual maintenance, or spontaneously, without any interaction. This is not a freak accident. It is a predictable, foreseeable consequence of a deliberate choice to use a cheaper, inferior material.
Is this lawsuit legitimate? How strong is the case?
The complaint was filed March 16, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, a federal court, under the Class Action Fairness Act. It brings claims under the California Consumer Legal Remedies Act, California Unfair Competition Law, the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act (a federal consumer protection law), Wisconsin’s False Advertising Statute, and common law theories including fraudulent concealment and breach of warranty. The complaint is detailed and grounded in specific factual allegations, including the specific materials (glass-filled nylon, EPDM rubber), the specific degradation mechanism (chlorine and chloramine attack), consumer complaints from named platforms, and documentation of the lead plaintiff’s personal losses. While all lawsuits carry uncertainty, this complaint is technically specific, supported by a documented failure pattern, and alleges conduct that clearly conflicts with A.O. Smith’s own marketing claims.
Did A.O. Smith know about this problem before people’s homes flooded?
The complaint alleges that A.O. Smith did know. Specifically, it alleges that A.O. Smith received numerous complaints from consumers, plumbers, and service technicians reporting valve failures, that its own testing and field data should have revealed the defect, and that plastic valves were failing at rates far exceeding industry norms and far above the failure rate for brass valves. The complaint also alleges that A.O. Smith’s engineering department in Wisconsin made the decision to continue using the defective valves and to conceal the defect from customers. A company does not receive years of consumer complaints about a specific, recurring failure and remain ignorant of the problem. This was a known issue. The question is why they chose to do nothing.
Why does A.O. Smith use plastic instead of brass if brass is so much better?
Cost. Brass is more expensive than glass-filled nylon. A.O. Smith manufactures the plastic valves through its own subsidiary, APCOM Inc., which it markets as producing “cost-effective” components. The complaint alleges that A.O. Smith claimed these plastic valves offered “comparable performance” to brass, a representation the lawsuit characterizes as false. A corporation with $3.8 billion in annual sales chose to save money on a safety component in an appliance installed in millions of American homes. The financial savings flow to the company. The financial consequences flow to homeowners whose basements flood.
Who is affected? Do I have an A.O. Smith water heater?
The complaint targets residential tank-style water heaters manufactured or sold by A.O. Smith under three brand names: A.O. Smith, State, and Reliance. These products are sold at major retailers including Lowe’s and Ace Hardware, and through plumbing supply distributors and professional installers. A.O. Smith is one of the largest water heater manufacturers in North America. If you have purchased a tank-style water heater in the United States in recent years, there is a meaningful chance it falls within one of these brand families. Check your unit’s label, serial number, or purchase records. If you have experienced drain valve failure, flooding, or property damage, document the damage and preserve the defective valve.
What can I do to prevent this from happening again?
If you have an A.O. Smith, State, or Reliance water heater with a plastic drain valve, consider having a licensed plumber replace the plastic valve with a brass ball valve before failure occurs. Do not attempt routine annual flushing with the existing plastic valve without first understanding whether your unit is affected. Document the condition of your drain valve now. If your valve has already failed or caused water damage, preserve the defective part, photograph the damage, keep all repair receipts, and contact a consumer rights attorney to discuss whether you may be part of the class. You can also submit complaints to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the CFPB to build the public record. Finally, share this information with neighbors and family. A.O. Smith’s products are in millions of homes, and most homeowners have no idea this risk exists because the company never told them.
Why didn’t A.O. Smith just issue a recall?
The complaint does not provide a stated reason from A.O. Smith. What the complaint does establish is that the company was aware of the problem and chose not to recall, not to warn, not to switch to brass, and not to offer adequate warranty remedies. Recalls are expensive and generate negative publicity. For corporations, the calculation often comes down to whether the cost of a recall exceeds the cost of continuing to sell a defective product and managing individual warranty claims. That calculus is part of what this lawsuit is challenging. The law exists to ensure that corporations cannot externalize the cost of their product defects onto consumers while keeping the profits internally.
How does this connect to the broader pattern of corporate misconduct in the consumer goods industry?
This case is a textbook example of a pattern that repeats across consumer products: a company discovers a cheaper material or component, substitutes it for a more durable one, markets the product as high-quality, conceals the defect when failures emerge, and deflects individual consumer complaints until a class action forces accountability. Water heaters are essential infrastructure in every American home. They are typically out of sight, in basements or utility closets, exactly the kind of appliance where consumers are most dependent on the manufacturer to act with integrity. A.O. Smith’s $3.8 billion in revenue is built on consumer trust. This lawsuit alleges that the company exploited that trust for profit while transferring the real cost of its design decisions onto the families and homeowners who trusted its brand.
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