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Attorney Jeffrey Killino Recovers Compensation for Children Injured by Defective and Dangerous Toys
In May 2014, Discount School Supply recalled more than three thousand of its Magnetic Color Sorting Boards due to defects in the product that pose several severe safety hazards to children. The sorting board is a toy that aids in a young child’s recognition of colors through the placement of colored magnetic balls (with the use of a magnetic wand) into colored receptacles. Both the wand magnets and the balls pose serious hazards.
The magnets on the ends of the wands have been reported to come loose, creating a choking hazard as well as a dangerous magnet ingestion hazard. The colored magnetic balls have also been reported to come out of the clear plastic that covers the boards, posing the same choking and magnet ingestion hazards as well as the additional danger of ingesting excessive amounts of lead from the paint used to color the balls.
As a result of these hazards, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has warned parents and others who have purchased the boards to immediately stop children from using the boards, to place the boards out of children’s reach and sight, and to ask Discount School Supply for a full refund.
Who is responsible if your child is injured by one of these boards, by either swallowing or choking on the magnet at the end of the wand or on one of the balls? Depending upon the circumstances of the particular injury in question, any one of several individuals or entities may be responsible for such an injury.
Legal Liability for Injuries Caused by Children’s Toys or Other Children’s Products
In many cases, the manufacturer and others in the chain of distribution of a children’s toy or other children’s product may be the only defendants found liable for injuries caused by a child’s use of a toy or product that contains a dangerous defect. In other cases, individuals or entities that negligently allow a child to play with or use such a product may also be found liable for a child’s injuries if such negligence is determined to have been a cause of the child’s injuries.
Thus, when a product has been recalled and a person or entity responsible for a child’s care ignores the recall and continues to allow a child to use or play with the product, that individual or entity may be found liable for the child’s injuries that result from the product defect, and such liability may be assessed in addition to the liability assessed against the product’s manufacturer and others in the chain of the product’s distribution.
In the case of the magnetic sorting boards recalled by Discount School Supply, the manufacturers of the product (and others in the chain of distribution) as well as child supervisors, such as daycare centers and their employees, may be found liable for injuries sustained by a child as a result of the product’s defects, under certain circumstances.
Liability of Manufacturer and Others in the Chain of Distribution
When a product is defectively designed or manufactured or is sold without adequate warnings of its dangers, the manufacturer of the product as well as others in the chain of the product’s distribution—such as the designers of the product, the designers and/or suppliers of component parts of the product, the assemblers of the product, and the retailers or sellers of the product—may all be found liable for injuries caused to a plaintiff if the defect in the product is determined to have been a cause of the plaintiff’s injuries. Thus, if a child is injured as a result of choking on or ingesting a wand magnet or magnetic colored ball from a Discount School Supply magnetic sorting board, every one of these defendants, including the supplier of lead paint used to paint the magnetic balls, may be found liable for injuries sustained by a child as a result of the child’s use of the product.
Liability of Supervisors for Children’s Injuries
Under certain circumstances, individuals or entities to which a child’s care have been entrusted may also be found liable for injuries resulting from a child’s use of a defective product if the negligence of such individuals or entities is determined to have been a cause of the child’s injuries. If, for example, a daycare center employee knew of the recall of a product such as the magnetic sorting board discussed above and continued to allow children to play with or gain access to the board while under the employee’s supervision, the employee as well as the daycare center may be found liable for injuries sustained by the child as a result of using the defective product if the employee’s negligence is determined to have been a cause of the child’s use of the product and resultant injuries.
Obtain Expert Assistance from Experienced Child-injury Attorney Jeffrey Killino
Today’s writer, Jeffrey Killino, is a respected child injury, toy injury, defective toy, and defective children’s products lawyer with extensive experience with all types of child-injury, accident, defective-products, personal-injury, and wrongful-death cases. Attorney Killino’s case against toy manufacturer, Mattel, Inc., resulted in an order compelling Mattel to offer free lead testing to children who may have been exposed to lead-containing toys. This case and other national cases brought by attorney Killino have gained national media attention through his appearances on major television networks, including CNN, ABC FOX, and the Discovery Channel.