Plaintiff: Recall Shouldn’t Affect Graco Car Seat Class Action Lawsuit

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The lead plaintiff in a Graco car seat class action lawsuit argues that even though the manufacturer issued a recall for the product in question, that does not offer a full remedy for certain Class Members.

Graco launched the car seat recall with the assistance of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration on March 25, 2014, although the opposition to the dismissal motion argues that the company’s position between when Seth Long filed the Graco class action lawsuit in March 2013 through January was that there were no issues with the car seats.

The part at issue is a defective buckle. Long alleges that they “are dangerous in that the particular harness buckle used by Graco can become stuck in the latched position making it difficult or impossible to quickly remove a child from the seat. Numerous consumers have reported that they either had to struggle to unlatch their child from their Graco car seat, cut the harness to remove their child from the car seat.”

For many parents, the recall might offer a form of remedy to people who continue to own the model, but Long and others have disposed of the Graco car seats. Therefore their class action lawyers allege that they still need an ability to seek damages. The company’s website notes, “[We] will continue to offer replacement harness buckles to any concerned consumer at no cost but are not replacing entire car seat units.”

More confusingly, according to the plaintiffs, is that the company’s policy is that “based on the flow of the conversation with the consumer, a Consumer Services Representative may issue a refund to a consumer, replace the buckle component or child restraint, or provide buckle cleaning or buckle operation instructions.” Long and others argue that this isn’t clear, nor is “reimbursement of costs.”

As a result, the class action lawsuit seeks damages on behalf of all buyers of Graco car seats that were equipped with the defective harness buckle because the company has failed to demonstrate that a remedy via the recall is sufficient for parents who no longer own the seats or whose children are big enough that they no longer need them because it does “not offer complete relief.”

Long is represented by class action lawyers Jordan L. Lurie, Robert K. Friedl, Tarek H. Zohdy and Cody R. Padgett of Capstone Law APC.

The Graco Car Seat Class Action Lawsuit is Seth Long v. Graco Children’s Products Inc., Case No. 13-cv-01257, in the U.S. District for the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: At a hearing on Sept. 9, 2015, the parties asked a judge to delay making a decision about certification for the Graco car seat class action lawsuit in order to give them time to work out the details of a proposed settlement.