The lawsuit alleges a metal shaft separated from a badminton racket during ordinary play and fatally injured 6-year-old Lucy Morgan.
LIMERICK, Maine — The family of a 6-year-old New Jersey girl who died after being struck by part of a badminton racket during a 2024 vacation in Maine has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the company that manufactured the equipment.
The lawsuit, filed in York County Superior Court against Franklin Sports Inc., alleges that the badminton racket used shortly before Lucy Morgan was injured was defective and unreasonably dangerous. The complaint says the racket’s metal shaft separated from its handle while one of Lucy’s siblings was playing with it outside the family’s rental cottage in Limerick on June 1, 2024. Lucy was nearby when the detached portion struck her. She died from her injuries four days later, on June 5.
The Morgan family, from Stockholm, New Jersey, was nearing the end of a vacation at a lake house when the accident occurred, according to the lawsuit and attorneys representing the family. Lucy’s older siblings were playing badminton in the yard while she and a younger brother watched. The lawsuit says one of her brothers swung a racket to hit a shuttlecock when the racket’s head and metal stem separated from the wooden handle and flew through the air.
Lucy was seriously injured and taken for emergency medical care before being airlifted to Maine Medical Center in Portland, according to reports and the family’s attorneys. Doctors attempted to save her, but she died several days later. Her three siblings witnessed the accident, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges the racket failed because the handle and metal stem were not adequately secured. It also claims the adhesive joining the components was defective and that the racket lacked a secondary restraint that could have kept the metal portion from separating if the primary connection failed. Those claims are allegations in a civil lawsuit and have not been proven in court.
The complaint also accuses Franklin Sports of failing to adequately warn consumers that the metal shaft could separate during ordinary use. The badminton set involved in the accident had been provided at the family’s rental property, according to the lawsuit. The family is pursuing claims that include negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, wrongful death and survival claims.
Attorneys Travis Brennan and Charles P. Hehmeyer of Berman & Simmons are representing the Morgan family. Brennan said the lawsuit seeks to hold the manufacturer responsible for what the family alleges was a preventable product failure. The attorneys also contend that changes in how such rackets are made could prevent a similar separation from happening in the future.
The lawsuit seeks damages permitted under Maine law, including funeral expenses, financial losses and compensation for emotional distress and the loss of Lucy’s comfort, society and companionship. Damages are also sought on behalf of Lucy’s estate and family members affected by the accident. The publicly reviewed reports did not specify a total dollar amount being sought.
The Press Herald reported that the family’s attorneys also pointed to a 2012 case involving another child who was injured when a similar badminton racket broke. Franklin Sports reached a settlement in that case, according to the newspaper. The current lawsuit alleges the earlier incident should have alerted the company to a potential risk. Franklin Sports had not responded to requests for comment from several news organizations covering the new lawsuit.
The case comes more than two years after Lucy’s death and shifts the legal focus to whether the racket’s design or manufacture contributed to the accident and whether the manufacturer provided adequate warnings. Those questions will be determined through the civil court process. As of Saturday, no publicly reported response from Franklin Sports to the lawsuit had been identified.
Author note: Last updated August 22, 2026.