Judge gives final approval to $852K Britax car seat defect settlement

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Update:

• A California federal judge gave final approval to a $852,360 settlement for claims that Britax Child Safety Inc. sold defective child car seats that broke during car accidents.
• On March 14, U.S. District Judge Mark C. Scarsi approved a deal between class representative Margaret Stevens and Britax a year and a day after Stevens asked the court for preliminary approval for an estimated $2.6 million settlement.
• Scarsi certified all California residents who bought a new Frontier ClickTight Harness-2-Booster Seat or Pioneer Harness-2-Booster Seat between Aug.14, 2016, and Aug. 12, 2020, to receive $40 cash payments for each seat, up to two seats, according to court documents.
• If fewer than 80% of the checks are cashed, Britax will pay the uncashed checks’ value up to 80% to Safe Kids Worldwide.

Britax Child Car Seat Class Action Settlement Overview: 

• Who: Britax Child Safety has agreed to a settlement worth up to $2.6 million with a class of child car seat buyers. 
• Why: Car seat buyers claim Britax sold defective child car seats that were shown to be prone to breaking in the event of an accident.
• Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.

(March 15, 2022)

Britax Child Safety Inc. has agreed to a settlement worth up to $2.6 million to resolve claims it sold child car seats prone to breaking during an accident. 

Plaintiff Margaret Stevens asked a California federal court to grant the agreement preliminary approval in a motion filed last week. 

Britax will pay class members $40 per child car seat purchased, per the settlement agreement. 

The class consists of California residents who purchased a new Pioneer Harness-2-Booster Seat or Frontier ClickTight Harness-2-Booster Seat between Aug. 14, 2016, and Aug.14, 2020.

Relief had originally also been sought, but ultimately denied, for a multistate class of consumers from five other states, including Illinois, Florida, New York, Washington and North Carolina, according to the motion.  

Stevens claimed in her August 2020 class action lawsuit that crash tests conducted by Consumer Reports showed child car seats sold by Britax were “defective.”

Stevens told the court there are 21,097 class members known to have purchased a child car seat from Britax and who have been in contact with the company while an additional 45,608 class members are currently unknown and have not registered their purchases with the company. 

Britax To Pay Safe Kids Worldwide Part Value Of Uncashed Checks

Britax has agreed that, in the event that less than 80% of known class members end up cashing their checks, it will pay the value of the uncashed checks up to 80% to Safe Kids Worldwide. 

The minimum value of the settlement will thus be $675,104, according to the motion. Britax will retain the value of any uncashed checks beyond 80% of the settlement total. 

Britax unsuccessfully attempted to get the class action lawsuit dismissed in February 2021, arguing the Consumer Reports test was not federally regulated and not enough to show its child car seats were defective, Law360 reports. 

The class action lawsuit against Britax was one of several filed against child car seat manufacturers, including Baby Trend and Evenflo, over claims they sold unsafe child car seats. 

Have you purchased a child car seat from Britax? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiffs are represented by Gretchen Nelson and Gabriel S. Barenfeld of Nelson & Fraenkel LLP; Christine D. Spagnoli of Greene Broillet & Wheeler LLP; and Troy A. Rafferty of Levin Papantonio Rafferty Proctor Buchanan O’Brien Barr & Mougey.

The Britax Child Car Seat Class Action Lawsuit is Stevens, et al. v. Britax Child Safety Inc., Case No. 2:20-cv-07373, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

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