Snuga Swing Lawsuit: Fisher-Price Failed to Disclose Suffocation Risk for Recalled Infant Product, Class Action Says

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

Mattel and Fisher-Price face a proposed class action lawsuit over their alleged failure to disclose that the Snuga Swing, recalled by the companies this month, poses a potentially fatal suffocation risk for infants.

Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter.

The 19-page Snuga Swing lawsuit was filed a week after Fisher-Price recalled more than two million Snuga infant swings, which are designed to cradle infants and swing front to back and side to side. Between 2012 and 2022, five infant deaths had been linked to Snuga Swing models, with most of the incidents involving infants who were in the swing unrestrained and among bedding materials, according to reports.

In its recall announcement, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) stressed that the Snuga Swing, which reportedly retails for around $160, should never be used for sleep, and that bedding materials should never be added to the product due to the risk that the headrest and body support insert on the seat pad can increase the risk of infant suffocation.

Nowhere on product packaging did Mattel or Fisher-Price conspicuously disclose that the Snuga Swing poses a suffocation risk for infants, the proposed class action suit states.

According to the recall lawsuit, Mattel and Fisher-Price knew of the suffocation risks, as one consumer stated in a 2014 report to the CPSC that her three-month-old son managed to turn the head support and pillow and had his face pressed into the fold. The consumer noted that she was “very concerned” due to the way the swing’s head pillow is attached, which could cause a baby to become “trapped/folded, get their face in it, have their breathing restricted, and die,” the lawsuit states.

In 2019, another consumer sent a nearly identical report to the CPSC, sharing how her five-month-old was “able to lift the pillow part of the swing over his face and then was unable to get it off,” the filing adds.

The lawsuit notes that the “flawed” Fisher-Price Snuga Swing recall was “immediately panned by consumer safety experts” as the initiative provides only $25 in potential relief to consumers, and only if they remove and destroy the swing’s headrest and body support insert.

In a letter to Fisher-Price, CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka asserted that the Snuga Swing recall is “doomed to fail and will keep many babies in harm’s way,” and stressed that the company “can do more to save babies’ lives.” Consumer Reports similarly criticized the recall as failing to go far enough to help families and ensure consumers are made whole again for spending money on a dangerous product, the case relays.

The CPSC urges consumers who own any of the Snuga Swing models listed here to immediately cut the tether of and remove the headrest and body support insert of the product. Fisher-Price will provide a $25 refund to consumers who remove and destroy the headrest and body support insert.

The Snuga Swing class action lawsuit looks to cover all individuals who bought one or more Fisher-Price Snuga Swings within the applicable statute of limitations period.

Are you owed unclaimed settlement money? Check out our class action rebates page full of open class action settlements.