Ontario set to join legal action against crib manufacturer
November 25, 2009
Denise Balkissoon
STAFF REPORTER
A multi-province class action lawsuit is the latest legal woe for Stork Craft, the B.C. manufacturer that voluntarily recalled 2.1 million cribs across North America this week.
Launched in six provinces by the law firm that won a $25 million settlement in the Maple Leaf Foods listeriosis case, the suit is aimed not just at Stork Craft, but Fisher-Price, Sears Canada, Wal-Mart and, in Quebec, Toys R Us.
Stork Craft has promised to provide replacement metal brackets for the plastic ones it says are causing the faulty drop-side, which has led to deaths, falls and entrapment. Endless busy signals and an unresponsive website have led frustrated parents to Merchant Law Group instead.
"It's shocking," said lawyer Evatt Merchant. "The way they're trying to address the issue just isn't sufficient."
Merchant said that consumers expect service for defective merchandise at the point of purchase, but are instead being told to "go away" by Sears, Wal-Mart and Toys R Us. Refunds, exchanges or quality onsite repair are "reasonable types of options" for parents, he said, which is why the retailers are named in the case.
"We're not asking for a specific amount," said Merchant, whose firm represented 4,200 plaintiffs in the Maple Leaf class-action suit. Parents should get a refund for the cribs, he said, which ranged in price from about $200 to $500. "I do think it will add up to millions."
Four U.S. babies suffocated to death when shifting drop-sides created a space between the crib wall and mattress, including Louisiana infant Reese Morgan. The seven-month-old boy died in May 2009, and his parents have filed a wrongful death suit in that state.
There have also been reports of a suit filed by a West Virginia family whose six-month-old died as well. On Tuesday, Inez Tenenbaum, the head of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, said all drop-side cribs are unsafe and parents should stop using them. 110 incidents with Stork Craft cribs were documented in Canada and the U.S.
Parents have already been named in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec, said Merchant, who added that claims in the Atlantic provinces are likely as well.
In an email on Wednesday afternoon, Stork Craft CEO Jim Moore said he had no knowledge of the suit, and had no comment. Wal-Mart Canada doesn't comment on cases currently before the courts. None of the other defendants returned calls to The Star.
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