Dangerous Bassinets in Recall Dispute

September 2008

Almost 900,000 dangerous Simplicity-brand bassinets remain on the market or in consumers' homes in the midst of an ongoing liability dispute. SFCA Inc., the company that acquired the Simplicity brand in April, claims that it is not liable for recalling the bassinets, which have been implicated in the strangulation deaths of two infants.

SFCA Inc. bought the assets of Simplicity Inc. in April, and the company has asserted that they bear no responsibility for products previously manufactured by Simplicity, including the convertible bassinets that would be affected by a recall. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has warned parents and caregivers to stop using certain Simplicity bassinets, and seven large retailers have agreed to stop selling and take back the bassinets. The retailers are Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., J.C. Penney Co., Amazon.com Inc., Toys "R" Us Inc., Kmart Corp., Target Corp., and Big Lots, Inc.

In most cases, the CPSC works with a manufacturer or importer to initiate a voluntary recall of a defective product. The agency says that they have not yet taken legal action against SFCA because retailers have been cooperative. The commission said that there are 66 dangerous models of convertible bassinets on the market with metal bars that are spaced too far apart, posing a strangulation hazard to infants.