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Toy Recall Lawsuit Filed in California

by comoms | November 19, 2007 at 04:28 pm | 637 views | add comment

This will be a huge test to see if there are indeed legal rights by citizens and states against the defective toys with lead. Who is to blame is going to be one of the main questions that need to be answered here. At what point did the testing break down? State, federal, Companies?

I have compiled a list of toys recalled by the CPSC at Consumer News Weekly

www.consumernewsweekly.com/toy-recall-list-from-2007

You can also find a search feature to search for toys that have been recalled.

SAN FRANCISCO: California Attorney General Jerry Brown on Monday sued 20 companies, including Mattel and Toys "R" Us, for selling toys containing "unlawful quantities of lead."

The suit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, alleges the companies knowingly exposed children to lead and failed to provide warning of the risk, which is required under the Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986, known as Proposition 65.

If the suit is successful, the companies could pay a $2,500 (€1,706) fine for each violation, according to the complaint.

Neither El Segundo-based Mattel nor New Jersey-based Toys "R" Us immediately returned calls seeking comment.

The move follows major recalls of toys, lunch boxes, children's jewelry and other goods during the last year by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission in Washington.

In June, toy maker RC2 Corp., one of the defendants in the suit recalled 1.5 million of its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway sets. Mattel followed in August with a series of recalls of more than 2 million toy cars, trains, shape-sorters and Barbie doll accessories. Its Fisher-Price unit also pulled Sesame Street-themed products from a line of infant and preschool toys.

The Center for Environmental Health, an Oakland-based nonprofit agency that seeks to remove harmful chemicals from daily life, applauded the suit.

The center "has tested hundreds of toys and has revealed many with extremely high lead levels," said executive director Michael Green. "Attorney General Brown's decision to take on the toy companies is an important step toward cleaning up this industry."

The suit, which was joined by the Los Angeles city attorney's office, also named as defendants Wal-Mart, Target, Sears, KB Toys, Costco Wholesale and others.