What Happens When Stores Sell Recalled Products in New York?

If a recalled product injures you or your child, then you will generally have the ability to launch a personal injury lawsuit compensating you for your injuries, expenses, lost wages, pain, and suffering.

As your personal injury attorney, we go after every potentially responsible party, including the seller of the product.

Here’s what you need to know.

What is a Recall?

Table of Contents

• What is a Recall?
• Recalled Products at Retail Stores
• Recalled Products at Garage Sales
• Comparative Fault
• Need Help?

A recall is a request to return, exchange, or replace a product after a manufacturer or consumer watch group discovers defects that could hinder performance, harm consumers, or produce legal issues for the producers.

Consumers return the product and receive a refund, replacement, or repair. The retailer is generally required to destroy the product properly. You don’t even have to have the receipt, just the product. Companies issuing recalls must provide a toll-free number for consumers to respond to the announcement.

If you own a recalled product, you should return it even though it “looks okay.”

Recalled Products at Retail Stores

You would think that retailers would remove recalled products from their shelves when they received the notice that the products were dangerous to consumers.

In reality, many retailers continue to sell recalled products. For example, the Consumer Product Safety Commission recently released a report noting that T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, and HomeGoods continued to sell 19 different recalled products after the recalls were announced.

These products included:

• An inclined sleeper accessory for a baby “Ultra-Lite Day & Night” play yard
• A portable speaker
• Two kids rocking sleepers
• A glass and ceramic doorknob
• Two chairs
• A toddler’s cardigan set
• Several kitchen gadgets
• Several children’s toys
• Watches
• Several items of clothing

Stores usually aren’t malicious when they fail to pull a recalled product. Often, the right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing. In addition, it can be very challenging to manage recalls at the retail level. For example, a grocery store that finds contaminated food on the shelf is responsible for pulling products, destroying products, and notifying consumers.

Nevertheless, a store that leaves a recalled product on the shelf subjects a consumer to unreasonable risk. Any customer harmed by those products would have a liability suit against those retailers.

Recalled Products at Garage Sales

Often, you’ll find recalled products sold at garage sales or online through Craigslist. The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, a federal law, makes selling any recalled consumer product illegal. You must know whether your products are safe, even if you don’t normally operate as a retail store.

If you buy a product in any of these places that harm you and later learn that a recall existed for that product, you may be able to bring a lawsuit against the seller. Plus, the seller may face civil penalties of up to $15,000,000.

Those who sell products must also check the product to ensure it is not broken or damaged in any way that could hurt another person, regardless of whether the product was recalled. Failing to do so is an act of negligence.

Comparative Fault

Can defendants raise the issue of contributory negligence in a recall case?

Sometimes. It depends on whether or not you could reasonably have known about the recall and continued to use the product anyway.

We would have to look closely at how the recall was publicized, for how long, and whether you received any direct notice.

The fact that a recall was in place does not bar you from recovery, though in some cases, it could reduce your settlement amount if you are found to share some percentage of the blame. Nevertheless, consumers usually aren’t responsible for seeking out recall news. If the information isn’t publicized to them, the fault would still lie with the store that continued selling the recalled product.

Need Help?

Any product liability case can get quite complex from start to finish. Plus, it isn’t like a car accident, where at least a part of the claims process is directly accessible to consumers. It’s all but impossible to launch a claim without help from a personal injury attorney.

Fortunately, we are well-versed in handling product liability claims, including those involving recalled products.

Think you might have a case? Call us for your risk-free consultation today. We’re happy to help you make your case against any manufacturer or retailer who played a role in injuring you or your child.

See also:

How to Handle Dangerous Toy Injuries

How Would the New York Climate Negligence Bill Work?

What to Do if a Product Makes You Sick