A former employee of Baby Trend won a $8.4 million dollar judgment for wrongful termination against the company, which now plans to file bankruptcy as a result of the verdict.


Rob Gardner, a former marketing executive for Baby Trend, sued the company for fraud after it fired him and deducted sums of money owed in commissions. The jury found the company and its owner, Denny Tsai, "acted with malice, oppression and fraud," according to a press release on the verdict.
After leaving Baby Trend, Gardner founded Joovy, a stroller maker that obtained the rights to sell the push-cart stroller known previously known as the Baby Trend Sit N Stand. In separate litigation, Joovy is suing Baby Trend and Target for infringing on a patent on the stroller, now called the Joovy Caboose. Baby Trend is arguing that the patent is not valid.
During a June 15 hearing on the patent case, an attorney for Baby Trend told the court "the odds are Baby Trend will file bankruptcy before we get to a trail date."
It is unclear if Baby Trend can use a bankruptcy filing to escape $8.4M judgment, since the jury trail found Baby Trend committed fraud. 
We will keep you posted on this story as it develops.