Toys are purchased everyday by parents who trust that a toy manufactured, marketed, and sold for a child’s use will be safe for that child’s use. Like any other product, however, toys are often defectively designed or manufactured and lead to injuries that would have been preventable had the toy been safely manufactured or designed.
Defective toys are recalled on a regular basis, due to loose parts, faulty safety features, or choking hazards. Some recalls are made before any injuries have been reported, while others occur only after a child has been injured or killed as a result of the product’s defect.
In either case, if your child has been injured or killed through use of a defective toy, you are entitled to seek compensation from those responsible. Toy-recall attorney Jeffrey Killino is dedicated to helping children and parents obtain the justice they deserve. Call attorney Killino at 877-875-2927 to learn more about how he can help you.
What are Toy Recalls?
A toy recall is a request that consumers return defective and dangerous toys to the manufacturer in an attempt to protect the general public from danger and the corporation from liability for injuries caused by a product’s defect. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) may order a toy recall after reports of injuries or injury-threatening incidents have been made.
When a defective toy is put on the market, it has the potential to cause injury to thousands of children, depending on the toy’s popularity and scope of distribution. Because recalls can be tremendously expensive to the manufacturers of recalled products, the decision to recall is often delayed. When a recall is made too late, hundreds of children may suffer injuries as a result. Thus, the timing of a recall may become an important issue in a defective-toy injury case in relation to both liability and damages.
In the case of certain recalls of toys manufactured by Mattel, Inc.—a corporation against which attorney Jeffrey Killino has brought suit and obtained nationally-recognized results—the CPSC ordered consumer notification of a defect within 24 hours of the defect’s discovery. Mattel’s failure to comply with the CPSC’s order led to an increase in civil penalties against the corporation.
Legal Liability for Injuries Caused by Recalled Toys
Product-liability lawsuits are often filed against manufacturers following the recall of products that have led to reported injuries or deaths.
Recalls as Evidence in Product-liability Cases
Plaintiffs often argue that the recall of a product constitutes an admission that a defect exists, under the Rules of Evidence (Federal Rule of Evidence 802 in a action brought in federal court).The mere fact that a company has recalled a product, such as a child’s toy, does not necessarily provide proof or evidence of a product’s defect, however. A product may be recalled, for instance, if a defect is suspected but not yet indicated.
In order to recover against the manufacturer of a defective toy, a plaintiff must demonstrate, by a preponderance of the evidence, not only that the toy had a defect, but that the defect was a cause of the child’s injury or death. In recall cases (as opposed to product-liability cases for defective products that were not recalled), the recall itself may provide important evidence, as well.
If the recall provides evidence that a defect existed when the product left the manufacturer, the recall may be considered relevant to determining the manufacturer’s damages for injuries caused by the defect. If a product is recalled for a defect that is not related to the aspect of a product that caused a plaintiff’s injuries, however, the recall may not be considered relevant to the action.
Similar arguments against allowing evidence of recalls in product-liability actions have been made when a recall involves a different brand of defective product than the brand that caused a plaintiff’s injuries. Courts have sometimes excluded evidence of recalls on the basis of unfair prejudice, as well. Your attorney will evaluate your case and the recall or recalls that have occurred to frame the issues appropriately and most effectively manage your case.
Helping You and Your Child
Child-injury lawyer Jeffrey Killino is not afraid to take on large companies responsible for harming young children with unsafe products. When dangerous amounts of lead were discovered in Mattel toys, attorney Killino took on the major corporation and obtained a court order forcing the company to provide lead-testing services to affected children. As someone willing to confront any company that puts a child’s well-being at risk, attorney Killino has become a nationally-recognized advocate for child safety.
Contact Us
If your child has been injured by a defective toy, contact toy-recall attorney Jeffrey Killino today at 877-875-2927 to learn more about your legal options.
