A New York mother has spent nearly a decade fighting for justice after her 6-week-old son died while sleeping in a baby product that was later voluntarily recalled.
In 2015, Kiersten Connolly gave birth to healthy twins, Jameson and Dorothy. She said that with the help of Fisher-Price Rock n’ Play Sleepers, she and her fiancé, James Hatch, were actually getting some sleep.
On May 16 that year, Hatch put the infants to sleep in their Rock n’ Plays. A few hours later, Connolly’s world changed forever.
“I heard James scream out and, I don’t know …I think I just knew,” she said.
Connolly’s son Jameson had stopped breathing in his sleep.
“It took my life. It took everything from me,” she said.
Connolly said they waited over a year for answers as to what happened, but never got any. Jameson’s death certificate stated that the cause of death was undetermined.
Product recalled years later
It wasn’t until 2019, four years after Jameson’s death, that Connolly said she stumbled upon startling news. Fisher-Price announced a voluntary recall of its Rock n’ Play inclined sleeper, the same product Connolly’s son died in.
“The anger I felt was … it was my whole body. It was palpable,” Connolly said.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s records, the product had been tied to at least 100 infant deaths since 2012. A study it commissioned found the angle of the incline increased the risk of asphyxiation and suffocation.
Congressional investigation
Shortly after the recall, a congressional investigation concluded that Fisher-Price “failed to ensure the Rock n’ Play was safe before bringing it to market” and found Fisher-Price was “aware of injuries and deaths in the Rock n’ Play as early as 2012.”
Even after the CPSC warned the company of safety risks in 2018, it took more than a year for Fisher-Price to recall the product.
Mattel, the parent company of Fisher-Price, did not respond to CBS News’ requests for comment.
“They knew for years that infants were dying and not disclosing it, and during that time, many other infants died,” said Regina Calcaterra, who represents seven families — including Connolly — whose babies died in Rock n’ Plays.
Last year, without admitting guilt, Mattel settled with several families, but Connolly’s case was dismissed. The company argued in court that New York’s two-year statute of limitations had passed and Connolly needed to have filed her case before May 2017, which was two years prior to the voluntary recall of their product.
“They’re actually weaponizing the statute of limitations,” Calcaterra said, alleging that “for years, they hid the fact that babies were dying.”
“What they were doing was pushing it down the line. So by the time the recall actually happened, the infants that died early on were not able to file a case,” Calcaterra alleged.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut blames a law that requires the CPSC, the government agency responsible for evaluating products for safety, to get permission from a manufacturer, like Mattel in Connolly’s case, before it’s allowed to warn the public of possible dangers.
“There’s really no effective oversight of baby products before they’re used by your infant,” Blumenthal said. “Often, safety issues arise, sometimes causing death, and years pass before there’s any effective action. This system is broken.”
Connolly said she has found strength for her two living children, but her loss is immeasurable. Two years after her son’s death, her fiance died by suicide — consumed with grief, she said.
Earlier this month, Connolly lost her appeal, but said she won’t give up and hopes her story saves lives.
“I will never stop this, this fight and the pursuit to bring justice to the both of them,” she said of her two living children, prior to her appeal.
In a previous report, Mattel responded to the congressional investigation, telling CBS News it “disagrees with significant parts” of the findings. Mattel maintains the Rock n’ Play had extensive research and testing and “met or exceeded all applicable regulatory standards.”
