CLAYTON—Retailer Tuesday Morning succeeded in having charges thrown out of court alleging that it had knowingly sold a table lamp that was dangerous and could start a fire.
U.S. District Judge Charles Shaw of the Circuit Court of St. Louis ruled in favor of Tuesday Morning and Fangio Enterprises Inc., which made the lamp, in a six-page ruling.
In the ruling, Shaw determined that the plaintiff, Debra Baker, had not provided sufficient facts to demonstrate that Tuesday Morning and Fangio Enterprises had been negligent in the manufacture and sale of the lamp. Shaw wrote in his ruling that Baker’s complaint was,“devoid of necessary factual content.”
Baker alleged that she bought a metal table lamp at a Tuesday Morning store in St. Louis County in July 2016. She further alleged that the same lamp later caused an electrical fire in her home, causing damage to both her house and property. Baker alleged that the table lamp was, “unreasonably dangerous,” in its design and manufacture by Fangio. Also, that Tuesday Morning was negligent in selling the lamp and did not provide what’s called a “failure to warn.”
The court requested that Baker file a response to confirm her negligence claims with an amended complaint to provide more details. Baker reasserted her claims of negligence against Tuesday Morning, but did not provide the amended complaint with the additional details requested. Tuesday Morning, in turn, asked the court to dismiss the case.
In his ruling, Shaw quoted Ashcroft v. Iqbal in saying, “a complaint must contain sufficient factual matter, accepted as true to ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’” He went on to say that the “factual allegations are too threadbare,” to determine whether or not Tuesday Morning had provided a failure to warn.
The case against the retailer was consequently dismissed on July 10.