Children’s travel trunks recalled after reports of injuries
Products liability claims are those that involve harm resulting from faulty, defective, or otherwise unsafe products sold by the defendant to the plaintiff. The manufacturer or retailer is regarded to have breached a duty of care towards the consumer by placing this product in the stream of commerce. To prevail on such a claim, the plaintiff must prove that the product was defective once it left the control of the defendant.
Recently, the toy retailer Toys R’ Us issued a recall of the Journey Girl Travel Trunks, a toy used to transport a 18-inch toy doll, after receiving six complaints of lacerations from children playing with it, including one instance in which the victim needed stitches. The incidents involved the metal handle of the trunk, which could be sharp, causing cuts to the child’s hands when they grabbed it. The retailer is encouraging all parents who purchased this unsafe product to keep it out of reach of children and to return it to the store for a full refund or store credit.
Retailers such as Toys R’ Us will often issue recalls for dangerous or unsafe products in order to avoid products liability claims from injured consumers. In this way, potentially expensive litigation is avoided, and the company can remedy its breach of the duty of care by removing the product from sale. Recalls are a way for a manufacturer or retailer to mitigate any damages caused by defective products without the imposition of liability.
Anyone impacted by an unsafe product has the legal right to file a products liability claim against the manufacturer or retailer and claim monetary damages. In this way, the defendant is held liable for the negligence committed, and the victim receives some restitution for his or her pain and suffering. Products liability claims are a way for those injured by defective or unsafe products to receive a measure of justice for the injury or injuries suffered.
Source: United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, “Toys R Us Recalls Journey Girl Travel Trunks Due to Laceration Hazard,” Sept. 27, 2013