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Toronto Sun
3 days ago
- Business
- Toronto Sun
Mattel settles baby sleeper death lawsuits before start of a trial
The agreement resolves lawsuits over six death cases and four allegations faulty design led to babies suffering flattened heads Published Jun 05, 2025 • 3 minute read Mattel headquarters in El Segundo, California. Photo by Bing Guan / Bloomberg Mattel Inc. and its Fisher-Price unit have settled lawsuits alleging their recalled Rock 'n Play baby sleeper was so defectively designed that it led to the deaths of infants. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The agreement, disclosed in a Delaware court filing last week, resolves lawsuits over six death cases and four allegations the faulty design of the Rock 'n Play product led to babies suffering flattened heads when they rolled against the product's side, said Michael Trunk, an attorney representing victims who settled their cases. He declined to provide financial terms. Among the cases settled was a suit filed by Ameena Brown over the death of her son, identified in court filings only as AB. Jury selection in her case was slated to start Thursday in Delaware. There are at least four other such cases pending in Delaware Superior Court. A representative of Mattel declined to comment. Mattel acquired Fisher Price in 1993 in a deal valued at $1 billion. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Carl Tobias, a University of Richmond law professor who teaches about product-liability law, called the settlement a positive step, but said 'the company should have done more to ensure that this product was safe for infant use before it put it on the market in the first place.' Product Recall Mattel started selling the Rock 'n Play Sleeper in October 2009. Over the next 14 years, the product was tied to around 100 deaths, according to court filings in Delaware. Mattel and Fisher-Price pulled it off the market in 2019 and offered refunds for 4.7 million sleepers. It reiterated its recall in 2023. Earlier this year, Mattel agreed to settle investors' claims that it hid the sleeper's risks in a $17 million deal. As part of the accord, the company agreed to make changes to the way directors and executives handle safety issues. That followed Mattel's agreement to pay $19 million to Rock 'n Play purchasers as part of a class-action settlement in federal court in Buffalo, New York. A judge approved that deal in March. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In Brown's case, her lawyers alleged in their complaint that Rock 'n Play's inclined design forced 'children to tilt their heads to one side, thereby increasing the risk of neck and head injuries, asphyxiation, suffocation, and death.' Brown found her infant son dead in the sleeper – which she got as a second-hand gift – in 2018 after he'd rolled over on his side and pressed his face against the soft-padded side, the filing said. He'd been born prematurely the year before his demise. 'The conclusion of these cases marks an important milestone for the families as they move forward from litigation and begin a new chapter,' Trunk said in an emailed statement. He's a partner in the Philadelphia-based law firm of Kline & Specter PC. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Fisher-Price employees warned the company in internal memos three times in 2008 and 2009 that safety research was needed before bringing the Rock 'n Play to market, a US House of Representatives committee investigation found. The committee found no such checks were done. In response to the House's report, Fisher-Price officials said they formed a medical council of pediatricians to focus more on the safety of their products. Mattel officials argued in their court filings that Brown failed to use the Rock 'n Play's restraints when she put her son in it — despite a warning sewn on the product — and that medical examiners attributed his death to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome rather than the sleeper. Mattel also said the child's health issues may have played a role in his death. The Delaware case is Brown v Fisher-Price, No. N-20C-01-067, Delaware Superior Court (Wilmington). NHL Columnists Columnists Sunshine Girls Celebrity
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Mattel Settles Baby Sleeper Death Suits Before Start of a Trial
Mattel Inc. and its Fisher-Price unit have settled lawsuits alleging their recalled Rock 'n Play baby sleeper was so defectively designed that it led to the deaths of infants. The agreement, disclosed in a Delaware court filing last week, resolves lawsuits over six death cases and four allegations the faulty design of the Rock 'n Play product led to babies suffering flattened heads when they rolled against the product's side, said Michael Trunk, an attorney representing victims who settled their cases. He declined to provide financial terms.
