by Suit claims the bed produced by Vietnamese manufacturer Moash Enterprise Co. failed to comply with safety standards for bunk beds
COLUMBUS, Ohio — An Ohio jury has decided a Vietnamese case goods manufacturer must pay $787 million to the family of a 2-year-old boy who died in a May 2018 bunk bed entrapment incident.
The manufacturer of the Fremont bunk bed involved in the boy’s death is Moash Enterprise Co. Ltd. of Binh Duong Province, Vietnam. It was imported by Longwood Forest Products and distributed as part of Angel Line series of bunk beds. The family purchased it on Wayfair.com.
The family of the boy — Jasyiah J. Boone — previously settled with both Longwood and Wayfair for an undisclosed amount.
The May 15 jury verdict relates to a suit the family filed against the manufacturer.
The Fremont twin-over-twin bed they purchased was one of three models that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled in December 2021. The recall involved 40,000 units including the Fremont bed and two other models. Only the Fremont bed was addressed in the lawsuit as it was the one associated with J.B.’s death.
According to court documents, the jury awarded the following damages:
+ $522 million in punitive damages for a survival claim, which addresses the pain and suffering that the deceased experienced from the time of injury until the time of death. The boy, Jasyiah J. Boone, fell into the gap between the top step of the ladder and the bed and experienced distress, pain and suffering because of the entrapment as witnessed by his 4-year-old brother.
+ $175 million in compensatory damages for the survival claim.
+ $90 million in compensatory damages for a wrongful death claim. The lawsuit argued that the manufacturers should have known the risks of entrapment and asphyxiation as a child could position their body into any narrow space on the bunk bed.
The lawsuit also claimed that the design of the bed failed to conform “to public or private safety standards and/or best practices for bunk beds or furniture intended to be used by children.” It also noted that such dangers are not immediately recognizable by the average adult consumer or children.
It added that Moash failed to provide a sufficient or adequate warning of such an entrapment hazard that could result in injury or death to a child. The suit also said that alternative design was economically feasible and thus would have also eliminated the risk of entrapment.
Home News Now will continue to update this story as further information becomes available.
