Consumer Reports Requests Recall on Baby Rockers

In November 2023, a 6 month baby died in a Fisher-Price infant-to-toddler rocker. Consumer Reports asked Fisher Price and its parent company Mattel to launch a recall because of the safety concerns raised by the baby’s death and other deaths over the years. If your baby died due to the risks of inclined sleepers, you should call the seasoned product liability lawyers of Moll Law Group. Billions have been recovered in cases with which we’ve been involved across the nation.

Consult the Seasoned Lawyers of Moll Law Group About a Rocker Claim

There were reports of a minimum of 13 infant deaths related to the rockers between 2009 and 2021.The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Fisher-Price issued a warning in 2022, in which they advised consumers not to use the rockers for sleep. Despite this warning, the rocker was not recalled.

Consumer Reports also found an event report from March of 2023 in which a baby was nearly harmed, though escaped without injury. It has recommended parents and caregivers to be particularly careful to make sure a baby that spends time in a rocker stays awake. Caregivers are supposed to move a baby that falls asleep in the rocker to a play yard, a crib, or a bassinet. In addition, the American Academy of Pediatrics asked that babies be placed by themselves on a firm flat surface with a fitted sheet and no additional things like pillows, blankets, padded crib bumpers, toys, or blankets.

When a baby dies as a result of a defective rocker, parents may find themselves wondering what their recourse is. It may be appropriate to bring a wrongful death lawsuit against the manufacturer. Wrongful death laws vary from state to state, but generally they are deaths caused by another entity’s negligence, strict liability, breach of contract, or misconduct. Our lawyers would also need to establish product liability; that is we’d need to prove the rocker has a design, manufacturing, or marketing defect. Most marketing defects involve a failure to warn. Design flaws are mistakes in how a product is designed that lead to it being unreasonably dangerous. In many cases, it is crucial to retain an expert.

When we are able to establish liability for injuries or wrongful death in connection with a defective rocker, we may be able to recover compensatory damages. These are damages intended to put you back in the position you would have been in had there been no injury or death. Of course nothing can fully make up for the loss of a baby, but the court attempts to quantify some of the losses. When a company behaves egregiously—such as by putting out to the marketplace a rocker they know to be defective—it may be appropriate to seek punitive damages, which are damages intended to deter and punish wrongdoing.

If your baby died because of an inclined sleeper, you should talk to the seasoned Chicago-based trial lawyers of Moll Law Group about what happened. We represent injured babies and grieving families across the country. Please call us at 312.462.1700 or complete our online form.