Injuries Alleged : Death
Amount of Award/Settlement : $1,500,000.00
Case Summary :
One-year-old child died after becoming entrapped between the mattress and frame of his crib. Two years after the death of the child, his mother learned that other cribs manufactured by the same manufacturer as her sons crib had been recalled due to safety issues. Mother contacted the US Consumer Protection Safety Council who took possession of and inspected the crib and subsequently recalled this crib model. However, by that time, the crib manufacturer had gone out of business.
Plaintiff's counsel retrieved the crib from the CPSC and retained experts in mechanical engineering and human factors. Plaintiff's counsel also obtained other similar model cribs from around the country which were subjected to extensive testing by plaintiff's experts who concluded that the manufacturer was negligent in using a mattress support system that required user assembly which introduced many potential points of failure. Moreover, the assembly instructions which accompanied the crib were confusing and misleading and led to the misassembly of the mattress support system to the crib frame allowing one of the mattress support system crossbars to detach causing the child to slip through and become entrapped.
Suit was filed against the manufacturer (which still had some available insurance), as well as the retailer who sold the crib (for breach of warranty). After extensive discovery, the parties agreed to mediation which resulted in a settlement of $1,500,000 for the parents' loss of consortium.
