PRODUCTS LIABILITY. $______ RECOVERY - PRODUCT LIABILITY - DEFECTIVE DESIGN OF INFANT CARRIER SLING - DEATH OF NEWBORN FROM POSITIONAL ASPHYXIA - PORTEE CLAIM.

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PRODUCTS LIABILITY
$7,250,000 RECOVERY - PRODUCT LIABILITY - DEFECTIVE DESIGN OF INFANT
CARRIER SLING - DEATH OF NEWBORN FROM POSITIONAL ASPHYXIA - PORTEE
CLAIM.
Morris County, NJ
In this product liability action, the plaintiff
contended that the design of the defendant’s
product,ababyslingthatisusedbymothersto
carry infants, was defectively designed due to a
risk of positional suffocation. The plaintiff further
contended that despite numerous prior complaints
and three deaths in the approximate one-year
period preceding the death in this case, the
defendant refused to comply with the insistence of
the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC)
to recall the product. It was only until after the
CPSC advised that it would issue a press release
that detailed the history of complaints and deaths,
and advised that the product should not be used
with infants younger than four months of age,
that the product was eventually recalled. The
plaintiff contended that the refusal to issue an
earlier recall constituted “Stall tactics” and caused
the infant’s death to occur. The plaintiff further
contended that the defendant failed to conduct
any pre-sale testing to ascertain whether the
product was safe, failed to conduct post-sale
testing to evaluate complaints, and inaccurately
indicated in its packaging that the product met or
exceeded certain industry standards when the
defendant knew that sling type carriers are
expressly excluded from such standards. The
plaintiff claimed that the defendant acted in a
willful and wanton manner and that punitive
damages should be awarded. The defendant
denied that the product was dangerous and
contended that testing conducted by Exponent, an
engineering and scientific consulting entity,
showed that the design did not create a risk of
positional asphyxiation. The Exponent testing
results were relied upon by the manufacturer in
their refusal to voluntarily recall the product. The
plaintiff contended that the consultants retained
by the defendant contributed to the “stall tactics”
that led to the subject death, and maintained that
the death would have been avoided if such “stall
tactics” were not employed.
The case settled prior to trial for $7,200,000.
REFERENCE
Bethea vs. Infantino LLC, et al. Docket no. MRS-L-
000117-12.
Attorneys for plaintiff: Alan M. Feldman, Daniel J.
Mann and Edward S. Goldis of Feldman, Shepherd,
Wohlgelernter, Tanner, Weinstock & Dodig in
Philadelphia, PA.
MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE
$6,758,159 VERDICT - MOTOR VEHICLE NEGLIGENCE - AUTO/TRACTOR-TRAILER
COLLISION - DEFENDANT TRUCK DRIVER FAILS TO MOVE TRACTOR-TRAILER PARKED
IN STORAGE LOT COMPLETELY OUT OF TRAVEL LANE, CAUSING PLAINTIFF TO DRIVE
INTO POORLY VISIBLE TRAILER STICKING OUT INTO TRAVEL LANE - SERIOUS BRAIN
INJURY SUFFERED BY MINOR MALE PLAINTIFF.
Harris County, TX
The plaintiffs in this motor vehicle negligence
action alleged that the minor male plaintiff
suffered a skull fracture with serious brain injury
when the host vehicle struck the rear corner of the
defendant’s tractor-trailer, which had pulled into
the defendant’s storage lot without completely
clearing the travel lane. The defendants
maintained that the plaintiff host driver failed to
keep a proper lookout and was driving too fast,
causing her to collide with the trailer.
The jury found the defendants 55% negligent and the
plaintiff mother/driver 45% negligent. The jury then
awarded the infant plaintiff $6,758,159 in damages.
Motions for a final judgment are pending.
REFERENCE
Julie Rogers Individually and as png of Dalton Rogers
vs. Cody Fox and Sunbelt Rentals Inc.. Case no.
201365334; Judge Mike Engelhart, 09-24-15.
Attorney for plaintiff: Scott Hooper of The Scott
Hooper Law Firm in Houston, TX. Attorney for
defendant: Rebecca E. Bell-Stanton of Fee, Smith,
Sharp and Vitullo LLP in Dallas, TX.
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