Supposedly there was a consumer that decided to reattach their quick release by using the lever as a thumb screw, and did not tighten their front wheel properly. They then proceeded to have some sort of accident in which the front wheel came off of the bike. Supposedly they then sued the manufacturer and won. I say supposedly because I do not know who the injured party was, nor the manufacturer that was sued.
The manufacturers came up with different methods to keep the front wheels on the bikes should the quick release lever be attached incorrectly. Some other methods were washers with tabs that wrapped around the stays. Another was built up material on the bottom of the fork stays so that you had to unscrew the quick release lever almost all the way to get it to clear. Also around this time, dealers had a form that consumers were asked to fill out that they had been instructed in the proper procedure of removing and reinstalling quick release front wheels.
If you know how to properly tighten a quick release skewer, these tabs are completely a waste of time. Although I will say that out of all the different methods of adding these tabs, Schwinn's was the nicest because you did not have to unscrew the skewer all the way to get the wheel off.