In July 2012, a Chicago woman was trying out a chair she was looking to purchase at a TJ Maxx store in nearby Crestwood. The woman, who was almost 8 months pregnant, sat in the chair, and it collapsed. As a result, she alleges lost her baby and is now suing the store and the chair’s manufacturer for allowing a defective product to cause her unborn baby’s death.
The woman is suing the store’s parent company, The TJX Companies Inc., and Red Monkey LLC, the chair’s manufacturer. After the collapse, the woman was hospitalized that night for pain in her leg, thigh and abdomen. An ultrasound showed that her baby was still alive. However, a week later, after noticing decreased fetal movement and tightening in her abdomen, she found out that the fetus had died. Her baby girl was born stillborn the next day.
The autopsy showed that the baby had died from oxygen deprivation after the placenta and uterus separated. The amount of compensation the woman is seeking is unknown, but she is claiming product liability and wrongful death on behalf of TJ Maxx and Red Monkey.
Those injured by another party’s negligence do have the right to seek compensation for physical and emotional damages. However, first it must be determined if the chair was a defective product or if it collapsed due to misuse.
Manufacturers and retailers need to ensure that consumers are kept safe. A defect can cause injury, or in this case, possibly death. Defective products cases can be complex. An experienced personal injury attorney may help his or her clients understand this difficult area of the law and how best to proceed with such cases.
Source: Southtown Star, “Suit: Woman lost fetus after mishap at store” No author given, Jan. 24, 2014