HARTFORD -
The daughter of an East Windsor woman who died in 2005 when her robe caught fire as she reached across a stove top is suing the Pennsylvania company that sells the chenille robes.
The wrongful-death lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Hartford says Blair Corp. of Warren, Penn. sold the robes imported from Pakistan even though they were made of a highly flammable material.
In the past week federal officials have ordered the company to expand a recall that started in April to include other chenille products made in Pakistan, including tops and jackets. More than 300,000 garments have been recalled since April and nine deaths, including Atwilda Brown's, have been attributed to the robes' catching fire.
Brown, 87, was pouring hot water from a teapot into a cup in her East Windsor home in February 2005 when her sleeve caught fire. She ran from the kitchen into the bedroom trying to get the robe off but by the time she did Brown had suffered burns on more than 35 percent of her body, the lawsuit said.
She died a few weeks later in the Bridgeport Burn Center. The lawsuit was filed by Glastonbury attorney Bruce Raymond on behalf of Brown's daughter Sharon Davis.
"My mother suffered a horrible death and experienced excruciating pain. I would like to know why it took four long years to finally make an official recall take place and see Blair punished for violating federal product safety laws," Davis said in a statement.
The wrongful-death lawsuit filed this week in U.S. District Court in Hartford says Blair Corp. of Warren, Penn. sold the robes imported from Pakistan even though they were made of a highly flammable material.
In the past week federal officials have ordered the company to expand a recall that started in April to include other chenille products made in Pakistan, including tops and jackets. More than 300,000 garments have been recalled since April and nine deaths, including Atwilda Brown's, have been attributed to the robes' catching fire.
Brown, 87, was pouring hot water from a teapot into a cup in her East Windsor home in February 2005 when her sleeve caught fire. She ran from the kitchen into the bedroom trying to get the robe off but by the time she did Brown had suffered burns on more than 35 percent of her body, the lawsuit said.
She died a few weeks later in the Bridgeport Burn Center. The lawsuit was filed by Glastonbury attorney Bruce Raymond on behalf of Brown's daughter Sharon Davis.
"My mother suffered a horrible death and experienced excruciating pain. I would like to know why it took four long years to finally make an official recall take place and see Blair punished for violating federal product safety laws," Davis said in a statement.
