Chicago
Tribune
September 25, 2007 Tuesday
Maurice
Possley
Sep. 25--A Hanover Park woman
who purchased a crib from Simplicity Inc. that is part of the largest
recall of full-size cribs ever in the U.S. went to court Monday
seeking damages for owners of the cribs.
Amber Spitzer, whose 1-year-old
daughter, Briana, had been sleeping in a Simplicity crib, said: "My daughter is my life, and I
would do anything to protect her and I know that there are millions
of parents out there that feel the same way. So if the government
won't protect our children, then I will."
The class-action lawsuit
was filed in Minneapolis against Simplicity as well as Target Corp.,
the company from which Spitzer bought the Aspen 4 in 1 crib for
her daughter in April 2006. Also named as a defendant was Graco
Children's Products Inc., the company that licensed its name to
Simplicity for some of the cribs that were recalled.
Representatives for Simplicity
and Graco declined to comment because the lawsuit was just filed.
Efforts to reach Target were unsuccessful.
On Friday, the Consumer
Product Safety Commission, prompted by a Tribune investigation,
issued a recall of 1 million Simplicity cribs, including the Aspen
4 in 1, that were sold from 1998 until May 2007. Three babies died,
seven were trapped and there were 55 other incidents -- all related
to a design flaw and hardware failure involving separation of the
cribs' drop rail from the frame. The recall advises consumers to
contact Simplicity for a repair kit.
The suit was filed by Charles
Kelly, a San Francisco attorney who had represented the family
of a 9-month-old California boy who died in a Simplicity crib in
April 2005.
"The recall is grossly inadequate and irresponsible," Kelly
said Monday. "Simplicity should be required to tell consumers
to dismantle their crib, and return it for a full refund.
Kelly also said he sent
letters to members of Congress asking for hearings into why more
than two years elapsed between the first death in one of these
cribs and Friday's recall. |
