Attorney Thomas Scolaro was recently featured in an exclusive interview on LawDragon.com. Notably Mr. Scolaro addresses results past and present, including the successful litigation against a furniture manufacturer and the hurdles in forcing the industry to change inadequate industry standards to prevent toddlers from sustaining fatal injuries:
LawDragon: Can you describe a recent matter that you’ve handled?
Thomas Scolaro: A two-year-old boy was killed when he tried to climb up his dresser to reach the baby-cam. As he pulled out the drawers to climb to the top, the center of gravity shifted and the dresser tipped over onto him. He asphyxiated to death. He only weighed 30 pounds yet was able to cause the dresser to tip over. We successfully settled the lawsuit with the manufacturer. However, since this dresser was actually compliant with all furniture industry tip-over standards, I felt that we needed to shine a flashlight on the inadequacy of the voluntary furniture tip-over standard and hold them accountable. I am currently suing the furniture industry trade group, American Home Furnishings Alliance and ASTM International for negligently promulgating a known inadequate tip-over standard. A 30-pound, two-year-old boy should never be able to tip over a dresser. If that can happen then the standard used by manufacturers is grossly inept.