Wrongful Death Lawsuit Filed in Blair Bathrobe Burn Death

A lawsuit has been filed on behalf of an elderly California couple who recently died after a Blair chenille bathrobe worn by one of the victims while she was cooking burst into flames, fatally burning her and her husband who rushed to her aid.

Evelyn Rogoff, 81, of Oceanside, Ca. was preparing a morning cup of tea in February when the electric burner on her stove ignited the sleeve of her Blair bathrobe, according to a report today in the San Diego Union-Tribune.

The flames quickly spread and as her 83-year-old husband, Murray, tried to help snuff out the fire, he also suffered life-threatening burns. Both Evelyn and Murray died months later as a result of their injuries.

The couple would have been married for 50 years last month and Evelyn was a cancer survivor, according to the newspaper report.

Wrongful Death Suit Filed

This week, the couple’s daughters filed a wrongful-death lawsuit in San Diego County Superior Court against Blair Corp., the Pennsylvania-based company that makes the robes. The lawsuit accuses Blair of violating federal safety standards for the garments, causing the deaths. The daughters’ lawsuit seeks at least $1.9 million in damages for medical bills and other expenses, the Union-Tribune reports.

“Blair failed to place any kind of warning label in the bathrobe prior to its sale,” the suit said. “Blair was fully aware that a woman’s bathrobe would be used and worn in close proximity to open range fires and hot electric coils.”

Blair Robes Recall Ongoing

Burns to consumers wearing Blair bathrobes have prompted an ongoing recall of hundreds of thousands of the garments. In April, just months after the Rogoffs were injured, 162,000 Blair full-length women’s chenille robes were recalled after reports of six people being killed when the garments caught fire. In all but one of those cases, the victim was cooking when the accident occurred.

Months after the recall was first announced, consumers continued complaining of injuries caused by Blair bathrobes, leading to a reissuance of the initial recall to again alert consumers of the dangers.

Then, earlier this month, the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled another 138,000 of the women’s apparel items after more reports of consumer deaths linked to flammable Blair robes and other garments.

A total of nine consumer deaths are now linked to burns suffered while wearing Blair robes and garments.

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