Court to Reconsider Partial Dismissal of Graco Booster Seat Class Action Lawsuit

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• Who: A Georgia court will reconsider a partially dismissed claim against children’s products manufacturer Graco.
• Why: Plaintiffs allege the company falsely marketed the seats as being safe for children weighing 30 pounds when they are not.
• Where: The consolidated class action is nationwide.

A Georgia court will reconsider a class action lawsuit that was partially dismissed in August of this year regarding Graco’s alleged false marketing of car seats as being safe for children weighing 30 lbs. 

Originally, the court dismissed Georgia Count III, a claim under Georgia’s Fair Business Practices Act, finding that the plaintiffs had failed to comply with the statute’s mandatory notice requirement, with prejudice. The plaintiffs now asked the court to reconsider that decision and instead dismiss the claim without prejudice and with leave to amend.

The plaintiffs explained a named Georgia plaintiff, Rejenna Chavez, had provided notice to the defendant prior to asserting her GFBPA claim, making her claims, and those of the Georgia subclass, viable.

“Plaintiffs are correct that, under these circumstances, plaintiff Chavez complied with the GFBPA’s notice requirement, and her claim would therefore not fail for lack of pre-suit notice,” U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May said.

The plaintiffs seek class certification with sub-classes for plaintiffs in different states.

Graco Booster Seat Allegedly Put Small Children at Risk

Lead plaintiff Kellie Carder says Graco has known since 2002 that its representations about its booster seats being safe for small children are false and misleading — namely, that the booster seats do not appreciably reduce the risks associated with side-impact collisions.

“Defendant’s own testing does not show that the booster seats are safe in side-impact collisions, and that the booster seats are in fact not safe for children under 40 lbs. or younger than 4 years old—but that defendant omitted or concealed this information from its marketing of the booster seats,” the lawsuit states. 

The company said in its marketing that the seats were safe for children weighing 30 lbs. and as young as 3 years of age, the lawsuit alleges.

Have you ever purchased a booster seat for your child? Tell us in the comments section how old your child was when you made the transition!

The plaintiffs are represented by Daniel K. Bryson, Gregory F. Coleman, Harper T. Segui, Jonathan B. Cohen, Martha A. Geer, Patrick M. Wallace and Rachel Soffin of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC; David J. Worley, James M. Evangelista and Kristi S. McGregor of Evangelista Worley LLC; Gary E. Mason of Mason Lietz & Klinger LLP; Melissa R. Emert and Gary S. Graifman of Kantrowitz Goldhamer & Graifman PC; James M. Davis IV and Patricia C. Guerra of Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP; Mark P. Chalos, Christopher E. Coleman and Jonathan D. Selbin of Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP; Carl V. Malmstrom and Matthew M. Guiney of Wolf Haldenstein Adler Freeman & Hertz LLC; Aaron M. Sheanin, J. Austin Hurt, Michael J. Pacelli and Stacey P. Slaughter of Robins Kaplan LLP; Samuel J. Strauss of Turke & Strauss LLP; Gayle M. Blatt of Casey Gerry Reed & Schenk; and Jonathan Shub and Kevin Laukaitis of Shub Law Firm LLC. 

The Graco Booster Seat Class Action Lawsuit is Carder, et al., v. Graco Children’s Products, Inc., Case No. 2:20-cv-00137-LMM in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District Of Georgia Gainesville Division.

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