A Downers Grove resident is front and center of attention in a proposed class action lawsuit against RC2 of Oak Brook.

The company recalled 26 different wooden Thomas and Friends railway toys June 13 after their paint was found to contain lead. The company asked those who had purchased the 1.5 million recalled toys to send them back for replacements but did not offer any type of financial compensation.

Channing Hesse, a Downers Grove resident, is the named plaintiff who filed the suit June 22 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Hesse declined to speak to the media, but said in the complaint she had purchased seven of the recalled toys for her toddler sons.

The suit is seeking a return of the money paid for the toys and any other damages the court might deem appropriate, said Mark Firmani, a spokesman for the law firm Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP.

The toys, which were sold between January 2005 and June 2007, cost between $10 and $70, bringing the total funds in question to more than $5 million, according to the complaint. 

RC2 must now respond to the complaint, and the court will decide whether the class action suit is appropriate. Representatives of RC2 did not respond to calls, but Firmani expects the company will ask for the suit to be dismissed.

If it is approved, the law firm will begin communicating with customers who may wish to get involved in the case.

“Since the proposed class action was filed, the law firm has received calls and e-mails from people across the country who are horribly concerned about the well-being of their children,” Firmani said.

While an RC2 release said no cases of injury or illness have been reported yet, ingestion of lead paint could cause lead poisoning, which has been known to cause learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders and behavior problems in children.