Parties May Soon Settle Graco Car Seat Class Action Lawsuit

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At a hearing Wednesday in California federal court, the plaintiffs asked U.S. District Judge James Donato to delay a ruling regarding the certification of a class action lawsuit over an alleged Graco car seat defect, as the parties are currently negotiating a settlement.

On Aug. 28, the parties filed a joint report with Judge Donato, asking him to push the Class certification hearing date from Sept. 2 to Sept. 9 so that they could have more time to work out the terms of a proposed class action settlement. At Wednesday’s hearing, they reportedly asked the judge to put off making a determination about Class certification, informing him that they have an upcoming mediation session that may result in a settlement agreement.

According to the court documents, the parties attended a day-long mediation session on Aug. 26 and made “significant process toward a settlement.” The judge who mediated the settlement talks has also reportedly agreed to spend more time with the parties to help them hammer out the terms of the deal. The parties informed Judge Donato that they “have a proposed frame work and are working to resolve final details.”

Plaintiff Seth Long filed the Graco car seat class action lawsuit in March 2013, alleging some of Graco’s car seats were equipped with a defective buckle that was difficult to unlatch. According to Long, many consumers reported difficulty unlatching the car seat buckle, with some having to cut the harness in order to remove their child from the Graco car seat.

Graco issued a recall of the affected car seats in 2014 and replaced tens of thousands of car seat buckles. In June, Long filed a motion seeking certification of a Class of consumers who purchased the allegedly defective car seats but did not receive a replacement buckle. The proposed Class would include about 22,000 consumers who purchased the affected Graco car seats but who did not receive a replacement buckle.

Although Graco offered full refunds as part of the recall, it was revealed that the full refunds were only available to consumers who actually spoke with a Graco representative and refused the replacement seat buckles. Long argued that this remedy was insufficient, as the Graco representative would ultimately determine who received a full refund. Further, Long argued that the replacement car seat buckle would not provide an adequate remedy for consumers whose child had outgrown the affected car seat.

More information about the proposed terms of the Graco class action settlement were not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

The plaintiffs are represented by 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. 3:13-cv-01257, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.