About the Recalled Ladders
The recall covers 11 Little Giant ladder lines featuring Rapid Lock mechanisms — black or orange adjusters on each ladder leg — including the Adjustable Fortress 2.0, Conquest 2.0, Dark Horse 2.0, Epic, King Kombo XT, Leveler, MegaLite, MegaLite+, Multi, Quantum, and Vector models. Only ladders without an orange rectangular “QC” sticker on the rail above a Rapid Lock are included; ladders bearing that sticker are not part of the recall.
Latest Updates
The CPSC announced Recall No. 27-067 on November 5, 2026, covering roughly 3,662,000 Little Giant ladders sold at Lowe’s, Costco, and other retailers nationwide and online at Lowes.com, Amazon.com, Costco.com, and LittleGiantLadders.com between December 2015 and October 2026 for $100 to $1,000, citing 25 reports of ladders retracting and 39 reports of Rapid Locks failing to fully engage [1]. Of the 25 ladder-retraction incidents, 19 resulted in injuries — three involving the head, with documented outcomes including traumatic brain injury, skull fracture, concussion, and permanent vision, hearing, and cognitive impairment [2][3].
How the Rapid Lock Failure Causes Injuries
Little Giant’s Rapid Locks are the spring-loaded adjusters that lock each ladder leg at the user’s chosen height — when both legs are locked, the ladder holds its shape; when a Rapid Lock fails to fully engage, that leg can retract under the user’s weight, collapsing the ladder suddenly and without warning while someone is on it. Because these are multi-position ladders used in A-frame, extension, and staircase configurations, a collapse can drop the user from anywhere from a few feet to two stories in height, with no opportunity to brace for the fall.
The three documented head injuries — including one skull fracture and one traumatic brain injury — are consistent with the kind of unbraced, high-impact falls that occur when a ladder gives way beneath a user who has no warning and no way to react. Vision loss, hearing loss, and cognitive impairment as injury outcomes indicate that at least some of the head injuries documented in this recall caused permanent, life-altering neurological harm.
Injuries and Who Was Affected
Across the 25 reported ladder-retraction incidents, Little Giant documented 19 injuries total: 3 head injuries including traumatic brain injury, skull fracture, concussion, and permanent neurological impairment, plus 16 other injuries including joint or bone fractures, lacerations, and bruising. The recalled ladders were sold over an 11-year window — December 2015 through October 2026 — meaning millions of consumers may own affected units without knowing they were recalled.
No deaths were reported in connection with this recall. With 3,662,000 units in circulation and a Rapid Lock defect that may not manifest until the ladder is weighted at height, the potential for serious unreported incidents among consumers who recovered without seeking medical care or filing a complaint is substantial.
Can I File a Lawsuit?
If you were injured in a fall caused by a Little Giant ladder with a Rapid Lock that failed to hold, you may have a product liability claim against Little Giant Ladder Systems for defective design and failure to warn. Contact an attorney promptly, as state filing deadlines apply.
How to Get Your Repair Kit, Replacement, or Refund
Stop using any recalled Little Giant ladder immediately and do not climb it until you have installed the free repair kit — warning labels and updated instructions — and confirmed that all Rapid Locks fully engage. If lubrication does not resolve a lock that still fails to engage, contact Little Giant at 866-201-9069 (Monday–Friday, 6 a.m.–3 p.m. MT) or visit littlegiantladders.com/pages/recalls to request a replacement ladder or refund; refunds are based on purchase date and go up to the full purchase price for ladders bought within the past 12 months.
References
1. https://www.cpsc.gov/Recalls/2027/Little-Giant-Recalls-Ladders-with-Rapid-Locks-Due-to-Risk-of-Serious-Injury-from-Fall-Hazard
2. https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/millions-ladders-recalled-nationwide-after-numerous-reports-head-injuries-skull-fractures
3. https://openclassactions.com/recalls/little-giant-ladder-rapid-lock-recall.php