Jacksonville Flammable Clothing Attorneys

The Farah & Farah law firm opened its doors in Jacksonville in 1979 and since then we have helped thousands of people with their personal injury cases. One type of personal injury law is product liability. When a manufacturer makes or designs a defective product and does not adequately warn the public, a product liability case can be filed.

Product liability can run the gamut from unsafe cribs to lawnmowers, motorcycles, automobiles and even clothing. For example, every year an estimated 4,300 people in the U.S. are injured from burns received from flammable clothing.

You may have heard about the case of the defective Blair chenille robes. Made in Pakistan, they did not meet the flammability requirements set by the Federal Flammable Fabrics Act. Nine deaths were reported from burn injuries and the robes were recalled in April 2009.

In the 1970's Congress enacted the Children's Sleepwear Standard Act which required that certain fabrics resist burns and extinguish before they burn seven inches. Unfortunately the standard has not been utilized by many clothing manufacturers.

Instead, manufacturers added the chemical retardant, Tris, which was later banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after a study linked it to the risk of cancer.

Manufacturers have a responsibility to ensure the products sold to consumers are safe. When they fail to do so, not only the manufacturer, but the distributor, wholesaler, designer, marketer, and retailer can all be held responsible for injuries caused by flammable clothing.

Unfortunately, the apparel industry could be producing safer clothing but has not. Flame resistance can be created by altering the fiber itself to provide more flame resistance. Flame resistant fibers may have a different molecular structure whereby less of the fiber is exposed. In the case of some uniforms, chemical finishes are applied.

In a Jacksonville product liability lawsuit, the injured consumer must show that his or her injuries resulted from the defective clothing which was unreasonably dangerous. In the end, product liability lawsuits which charge negligence, breach of warranty and strict liability, are frequently the reason that dangerous products are removed from the market.

The Jacksonville product liability attorneys of Farah & Farah are prepared to handle all types of dangerous product cases. If you have suffered injuries due to a defective product and you were not warned about the dangers, call Farah & Farah for a free assessment of your flammable clothing case to determine whether or not you may receive compensation for the injuries, pain and suffering, and lost wages you have endured.