After losing an eye to a defective pop-up clothes hamper, Patsy Williams sought the help of Texas injury lawyer Benny Agosto, Jr., of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, to hold the manufacturer accountable for the dangerous design.
(Houston, TX) Purchasing a pop-up hamper from Wal-Mart was a life-changing event for Patsy Williams. While she was taking the new hamper out of its packaging, a tension wire that should have caused the hamper to pop up instead popped out of its casing and caused serious, permanent injury to Williams. The wire broke through the fabric of the hamper with enough force to penetrate Williams’ eye; the injury was so severe that she ended up losing her eye entirely.
Houston personal injury attorney Benny Agosto, Jr., of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, took on Williams’ defective product case. Through the legal system, Agosto was able to hold the pop-up manufacturer accountable for designing a dangerous consumer product that resulted in serious personal injury. Williams had not attempted to use the hamper for anything other than what it was designed for; she was injured simply trying to remove the hamper from its packaging.
Mr. Agosto explained the danger of the pop-up hampers in a recent interview with KHOU, “When you see a thin piece of nylon that can shred and this wire is under pressure, pushing against that nylon, then we’re causing a hazard.” It’s a life-changing hazard that can cause irreversible eye damage in a matter of seconds.
“The fact that there’s four or five or half a dozen folks that have reported injuries, that’s five or six too many,” noted Mr. Agosto.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) does not currently regulate these types of clothes hampers. But, after several injury reports, the CPSC is investigating whether this product should continue to be made available for public use. At least three children have suffered eye injuries from the malfunctioning tension wire.
In the meantime, Mr. Agosto recommends that people not use these pop-up style hampers. If you have already suffered a serious injury because of the defective hamper, please contact our personal injury attorneys at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner for a free consultation regarding your legal rights.
Benny Agosto Jr. is a partner at the Houston law firm of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner. Since 1951, the firm has advocated for the rights of thousands of catastrophically injured clients in cases involving car and truck accidents, work-related injuries, defective products, aviation accidents and other types of personal injury matters.
To contact attorney Benny Agosto Jr. or any of the other personal injury lawyers at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, email the firm or call (713) 222-7211.