Target Class Action Says weePOD Toilet Training Device is Dangerous

A class action lawsuit claims that the weePOD toilet training device, made by Prince Lionheart and sold at Target, possesses a design defect that can cause serious injury.

Plaintiff Natalie Belkin says she purchased the weePOD toilet training device for her two-year-old son.

She alleges that he was using the device in a normal manner when a sharp edge on the front of the device cut his genitals severely.

The Target class action lawsuit claims that the companies knew that the device was dangerous and sold it nonetheless. The plaintiff says her child was seriously and permanently injured by the device.

Belkin seeks to hold Prince Lionheart and Target accountable for releasing a dangerous product into the market and inso doing, injuring children who used it. She seeks damages on behalf of herself and all other similarly affected consumers.

The weePOD injury class action lawsuit states that the weePOD is a raised toilet seat that sits on top of a normal toilet seat.

Allegedly, the device is made of a squishy polypropylene, and has a raised front that protects from splashing during use. Allegedly, Belkin’s son’s penis stuck to the device, causing the organ to be ripped and nearly dismembered when the boy tried to stand up.

According to the Target weePOD class action lawsuit, numerous children have experienced similar injury. Allegedly, a parent in 2012 first reported that her son was injured by the weePOD, and since then, numerous other parents have reported injury.

Belkin claims that the company has been presented with numerous injury reports and continues to sell the product.

The plaintiff cited numerous parents’ reports of injury in her weePOD defect class action lawsuit, including one from a parent who, after 2012, reported that her son was injured by the weePOD and was explicitly told that her son’s injury was an isolated incident and that no other children had experienced similar injuries.

Belkin claims that this statement was untrue and is in direct opposition to numerous consumer reports claiming injury.

Additionally, the weePOD class action lawsuit alleges that Prince Lionheart and Target concealed the defect in the product in other ways.

The company reportedly redesigned the product in August 2017, adding a new textured surface to “prevent kids skin sticking” and to make the product “safer during child’s use.” Allegedly, warnings were changed in March 2018, but they made no effort to warn customers of the defects in the earlier products.

Target and Prince Lionheart also reportedly made no effort to recall the devices made before August 2017, and permitted retailers to continue to sell it. Allegedly, the companies were unjustly enriched by the profits they gained by selling a defective product.

Belkin is represented by Raymond R. Dieppe of Dieppe Martinez PLLC, John P. Kristensen of Kristensen Weisberg LLP, and John C. Carpenter of Carpenter Zuckerman & Rowley  LLP.

The Target weePOD Injury Class Action Lawsuit is Natalie Belkin v. Prince Lionheart Inc., et. al., Case 9:18-cv-80700-WPD, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, West Palm Beach Division.