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Dismissal of failure-to-warn lawsuit against Crocs upheld

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Dismissal of failure-to-warn lawsuit against Crocs upheld

A woman who sued alleging that the makers of Crocs sandals failed to warn about the shoes' dangers on escalators, as a result of her daughter being injured, did not present sufficient evidence to support her claim, an appeals court has ruled.

Nancy Geshke's 9-year-old daughter was injured during a July 2010 family trip to Boston when her foot became entrapped in the side of an escalator while she was wearing sandals manufactured by Niwot, Colo.-based Crocs Inc., according to Friday's ruling by the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston in Nancy Geshke, mother and natural guardian of N.K., a minor, and individually v. Crocs Inc.

“The pivotal issue in this case relates to the danger ostensibly imposed by Crocs sandals, not the danger of riding escalators generally,” the three-judge appeals court panel ruled unanimously in upholding a Boston federal judge's decision to dismiss her suit.

“The plaintiff claims that her theory of heightened risks is supported by several evidentiary pillars,” but “none of these is adequate to ground a conclusion that Crocs present a heightened risk of injury on escalators,” the court ruled.

While Ms. Geshke presented as evidence a warning label on the hangtag of a pair of Crocs that warned “purchasers to adhere to safe escalator-riding practice such as standing in the middle of the step,” the label “makes no mention of any special danger posed by Crocs. It speaks, in the most general terms, about escalator safety,” the appeals court said.

“Even after full discovery, the plaintiff failed to adduce significantly probative evidence on this point sufficient to allow a reasonable jury to find in her favor,” the appeals court ruled.