Suit seeks to force Mattel to pay for lead testing

NEW YORK, Aug 20 (Reuters) Attorney Jeffrey Killino, whose lawsuit helped lead to a recall of defective Chinese-made tires, filed a class action lawsuit against Mattel Inc. on Monday due to its recent recalls of toys that might have contained excessive amounts of lead paint.

Killino said in a statement that the suit is aimed at forcing the world's largest toy maker to pay for the testing of children who might have gotten lead poisoning from the toys, which were made in China.

Last week, Mattel recalled 436,000 die-cast toy cars from its ''Cars'' line because they may have contained excessive amounts of lead, which can cause brain damage in children.

REUTERS SR BD2309