LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) – A lawsuit seeking to punish Graco for the recall of three of its children’s sleepers has failed, as a federal judge ruled the plaintiffs haven’t alleged anyone was hurt by them.
Los Angeles federal judge Stephen Wilson reached that decision July 20 in a lawsuit over “Little Lounger” sleepers, which were recalled due to a threat of asphyxiation.
Graco noted in its motion to dismiss that there were no reported incidents of that actually happening and that it offered refunds to customers, which left the company wondering why plaintiffs attorneys filed suit instead.
“Plaintiffs have not alleged that the use of the contested products caused any injury, or even that Plaintiffs have ever used the products at all,” the decision says.
“Plaintiffs claim they were deprived the benefit of the product they purchased, but Plaintiffs have failed to provide a factual allegation that the product did not or cannot perform the function for which it was sold.”
Wilson cited a previous Los Angeles case in declaring that the presence of a recall does not establish harm.
“A product recall does not imply an admission of false or misleading advertising, and Plaintiffs have yet to provide any factual allegation that the products did not or could not perform as advertised,” Wilson wrote.
“More importantly for fraud pleading, Plaintiffs have not shown how any of Defendants’ statements or advertising were false or misleading.”
Wilson gave the plaintiffs’ lawyers 21 days to file an amended complaint to fix these problems.