Child’s death leads to settlement with maker of juvenile product

The family of a 1-year-old child who died of asphyxiation reached a $7 million settlement with the maker of the juvenile product that caused his death, according to the plaintiffs’ attorneys.

Chandler Gregg and Nick Smart of Strong-Garner-Bauer said the child was entrapped in the “V” shape of the product’s component parts.

The attorneys claimed that the company should have recognized the danger of entrapment and either kept the product off the market or eliminated the V-shaped hazard. They also argued the company should have performed additional analysis on the product whether the mandatory regulations required it or not.

The defendant claimed it had performed and passed all required testing. It also said it had sold millions of the products without notice of any other similar incidents, though the plaintiffs claimed the defendant had inadequate monitoring to know if there were other cases.

The settlement occurred less than a month before trial. Gregg said the case also resulted in warnings from the Consumer Product Safety Commission relating to plaintiff’s claims of defect.

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$7 million settlement

Products liability, wrongful death

Venue: Confidential Missouri court

Case Number/Date: Confidential/March 1, 2023

Caption: Confidential

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Chandler Gregg and Nick Smart, Strong-Garner-Bauer, Springfield

Defendants’ Attorneys: Confidential