Kansas City, MO personal injury attorney Geordie McGonagle talks about a defect in cedar chests that poses a risk of death. He explains that the case began shortly after he and his former partner, Dave, had established their firm. They received a call from a past client about the tragic death of her sister and her sister’s child, who had suffocated in a cedar chest. The initial police report indicated negligence on the part of the parents, and the incident occurred in an inner-city setting. Authorities assumed the parents were inattentive and dismissed the case. However, the legal team decided to conduct a deeper investigation.

The team managed to obtain the cedar chest involved in the incident and traced its manufacturer to the Lane Furniture Company. Engineers were hired to examine the latch mechanism on these old cedar chests. The engineers discovered that when the chest closed, there was no way to open it from the inside—no release mechanism. Essentially, these chests acted like airtight coffins, trapping children inside and preventing them from escaping.

Through further research, the team uncovered similar incidents across the country. They gathered testimonies from other grieving parents who had experienced similar tragedies. One such case involved two parents in St. Louis, whose children, ages three and five, had been playing hide-and-seek. They climbed into an old cedar chest, and when the lid closed, they suffocated. This case was particularly heart-wrenching for the team.

Investigations revealed additional tragic stories. In Ohio, a young girl had used a cedar chest as a homework station. One day, while inside, the lid fell on her, trapping her. She suffocated and died. In Delaware, another case involved a five-year-old boy who climbed into a cedar chest while his parents were out on a date night. A teenage babysitter was unable to find him in time, and the boy suffocated. The parents learned of the tragedy while at the movies.

Despite the horrific nature of these incidents, the legal team moved forward with their lawsuit. They enlisted an engineering design expert who proved that the manufacturer should have included warnings and advertisements regarding the danger of the cedar chests. Ultimately, the team succeeded in having the manufacturer change the product design, and warnings were published in magazines and newspapers across the nation.

Though the case was tragic, the resulting changes in the product design and the public awareness campaign helped prevent further deaths, bringing some justice to the families affected by these heart-wrenching tragedies.