Mom rallies crib owners in lawsuit

Amber Spitzer learned her daughter's crib had been recalled shortly after she laid 1-year-old Briana down for a nap.

"My heart stopped," Spitzer said. "I ran to wake her up and get her out of there."

A few phone calls later, the Hanover Park stay-at-home mom now finds herself at the helm of a class action lawsuit filed Monday against Simplicity, Target and Graco Children's Products.

"This is my only child and I don't take this lightly," Spitzer said, adding Briana's been sleeping in a playpen ever since.

The lawsuit, which seeks refunds and other unspecified damages for crib owners, has garnered international attention.

"This blew up big and fast, but in the long run I hope it'll do some good," Spitzer said Thursday, just before she was set to be interviewed by CNN.

Spitzer said last week's recall of 1 million cribs by the Consumer Product Safety Commission is "despicable," partly because no refunds are being offered, only repair kits.

"If the manufacturers can't put the crib together, what makes you think the average consumer can fix it?" she said. "I don't feel very secure trying to do it myself."

Representing Spitzer is Charles Kelly, the same San Francisco attorney who represented the family of a 9-month-old who died in a Simplicity crib in 2005. The case was settled out of court.

The safety commission said in its recall that three babies have died, seven have been trapped and 55 other incidents have been linked to a design flaw.

"I'm not looking for a paycheck," Spitzer said. "This is for all those families who had no idea, for the kids who lost their lives when nothing was done."

Spitzer said she wants money for a new crib; the recalled cribs retail between $100 and $300 depending on the model.

Simplicity, based in Reading, Pa., is defending its decision to offer repair kits.

"We worked in conjunction with the (safety commission) to decide what was the best, most effective and fastest way to address the issue," said Simplicity spokesman Joe Householder. "We jointly agreed that distributing the repair kit satisfied that."

The repair kits, which Simplicity says could take up to four weeks to be delivered, will include written instructions and a video.

In the meantime, Householder said customers can call customer service at (800) 858-8323 to speak with a person who will walk callers through the assembly.

The recall hotline is automated.

Customers can also watch a video online on proper assembly.

A Target spokeswoman said the affected cribs have been removed from the shelves and customers can return them to any store for a full refund, with or without a receipt.

That's little consolation to Spitzer, who said she doesn't know what product lines are trustworthy.

"To not know that your child is in danger scares the heck out of me," she said. "We're looking to have more kids in the future, and I don't want to go through this again."

Graco said it cannot comment because it wasn't the manufacturer; it only licensed its name to Simplicity for some of the recalled cribs.