Author William Sears May Face Liability For Allegedly Designing Deadly Baby Sling

The parents of an infant who allegedly suffocated in a defective baby sling raised sufficient fact questions to survive summary judgment related to whether baby book author Dr. William Sears could be considered a “product seller” of the sling under the Washington Products Liability Act, a federal district court held April 13 (Heneghan v. Crown Crafts Infant Products Inc., W.D. Wash., No. C10-05908RJB).

Judge Robert J. Bryan of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma said that Sears’s purported role as the sling’s designer could be sufficient to provide the connection necessary between ...