CPSC Enforcement Actions

The consumer product safety community is rarely provided guidance by federal court decisions. On Tuesday, however, Judge R. Brooke Jackson of the Federal District Court for the District of Colorado issued an opinion in the never-ending saga of Zen Magnets, LLC v. CPSC.

On Friday, February 16, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) announced that it had voted 3-1 (along party lines) to authorize CPSC staff to file an administrative complaint against Britax Child Safety, Inc., (“Britax”) a global manufacturer of car seats, strollers, and other juvenile products. In its…

We do not get many court decisions in the CPSC world, but yesterday we received one. Last evening, a Wisconsin federal district court essentially held in the Government’s case against Spectrum Brands, Inc. (Spectrum) that (1) Spectrum failed to timely report defective coffee pots in violation of Section…

Today the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) and Health Canada announced a massive joint recall with IKEA involving over 35 million pieces of furniture that can pose a tip over hazard to small children. While we would normally write about the recall itself, a troubling development has…

This article originally appeared on Law360 on May 12, 2016 and provides additional analysis to our prior post on this subject.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye announced in a meeting with consumer advocates that the agency will never again allow a company conducting a voluntary corrective action to call it anything other than a “recall.” Last year, after the announcement of a joint CPSC-IKEA “repair…

On March 25, 2016, Administrative Law Judge Dean Metry found that the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) case counsel did not prove that high powered, small rare earth magnets (“SREMs”) (1) are defective as sold by Zen Magnets (“Zen”); and (2) constitute a substantial product hazard when…

There have been many twists and turns over the past four years concerning the CPSC’s regulation of certain high powered, rare-earth magnet sets and its litigation against various entities selling these magnets. In the latest chapter of the magnets saga, a federal court in Colorado has permanently enjoined…

On Wednesday of last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that a complaint has been filed in federal court against Spectrum Brands, Inc. (Spectrum). Notably, this is the second case in the past three months brought by the government in federal…

Following an ABC 20/20 investigative story where CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye called Craigslist’s failure to block the sale of recalled products “morally irresponsible,” the agency announced yesterday that it has entered into an agreement with the Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba Group (“Alibaba”) to stop the sale of products…

On January 5, 2015, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Gerber Legendary Blades, a division of Fiskars Brands Inc., has agreed to pay a $2.6 million civil penalty to resolve charges that it knowingly failed to immediately report to the CPSC a safety hazard associated…

On October 28, 2014, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Baja Inc., and its corporate affiliate, One World Technologies Inc., of Anderson, S.C., agreed to pay a $4.3 million civil penalty to resolve charges that it knowingly failed to immediately report certain defects and an…

In April 2010, the Council for Education and Research on Toxics (CERT) sued Starbucks Corp. and other coffee sellers alleging they violated California’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, passed by California voters in 1986 as Proposition 65, by failing to warn consumers about carcinogens in their…

On October 14, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report entitled “Consumer Product Safety Commission: Challenges and Options for Responding to New and Emerging Risks.” The report analyzes the timeliness of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) response to “new and emerging” safety risks from new or…

In this blog we often discuss products being subjected to a lawsuit based on allegations that a label is false or misleading under California’s consumer protection laws. The Federal Trade Commission is similarly concerned with the prevention of false and misleading claims, but its focus is also on…

We do not typically take positions on product specific issues pending before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”), but the CPSC’s new safety standard for magnet sets demonstrates both why the agency exists and how it can use its regulatory authority to protect consumers. In enacting the…

This space has thoroughly explored the various forms of civil liability food companies face for the mislabeling and/or deceptive marketing of their products. Last week, a set of landmark convictions in a criminal food-safety prosecution potentially signal increased criminal liability for food companies when matters of public health…

A recent federal decision has made clear that court-ordered recalls can have real teeth, not just for manufacturers but also their officers—especially when the court has reason to suspect a company’s execs are deliberately dragging their feet.

Although the final rule currently under consideration by the CPSC sets a performance standard for magnet sets, the practical effect of the new safety standard will be a ban on the future sale or distribution of powerful rare earth magnet sets like Buckyballs and Zen Magnets. During the…

In the wake of the tragic drowning of Virginia Graeme Baker, the granddaughter of former Secretary of State James Baker, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Virginia Graeme Baker Pool and Spa Safety Act. The legislation was sponsored by Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) and…

Two years ago, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) took the uncommon step of filing administrative complaints against multiple rare-earth magnet companies who refused to voluntarily recall magnetic adult desk toy products deemed to be defective by CPSC staff. Specifically, the agency alleged that these companies sold…

Yesterday the Supreme Court ruled, 8-0, that Pom Wonderful LLC could pursue mislabeling claims under the federal Lanham Act against the Coca-Cola Company, even though the label at issue complied with FDA labeling regulations. The decision reversed the Ninth Circuit’s 2012 ruling that the FDA’s “comprehensive regulation” of…

On May 9, 2014, the CPSC and the maker of Buckyballs and Buckycubes settled the July 2012 administrative case brought by the CPSC alleging that these “rare earth magnets” pose a substantial product hazard. The settlement agreement includes a voluntary recall of Buckyballs and Buckycubes and a trust…

For the first time in nearly a year, a unanimous U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) announced that a company will pay a hefty civil penalty and enact a strict compliance program to resolve allegations regarding its reporting practices. This announcement comes almost one year after three similarly…

Last week, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a voluntary recall notice for the popular wireless, activity-tracking wristband Fitbit Force. Fitbit’s wristband allows consumers to monitor and measure certain personal fitness activities such as sleep habits and the number of steps one takes in a day.…

In his keynote address at the annual conference of the International Consumer Product Health & Safety Organization (ICPHSO), Acting Chairman Adler announced that the CPSC had recently started posting what it calls “letters of advice” (commonly referred to as LOAs) to its website. You can see this new…

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed suit in federal court against four California companies and six individuals for importing products that violate the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (“FHSA”) and the Consumer Product Safety Act (“CPSA”). The individuals and companies — Toy Distribution, Inc., S&J Merchandise,…

In a somewhat unusual development for a CPSC rulemaking, Pennsylvania Senators Robert Casey and Patrick Toomey submitted a bipartisan comment letter into the official administrative record for CPSC’s proposed voluntary recalls rulemaking that echoed many of the same concerns voiced by at least 45 others who submitted comments…

As the February 4th commenting deadline for CPSC’s voluntary remedial actions rulemaking approaches, many companies and trade associations are pondering not only the wisdom of CPSC’s insertion of compliance programs into voluntary recall negotiations, but also how those compliance programs might evolve and take shape moving forward. To…

Since the inception of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), voluntary recall agreements between the agency and companies conducting a recall (commonly referred to as “corrective action plans”) have not been legally binding on the company conducting the recall. At the November 13, 2013 meeting of the…

Two months ago, our colleague Dan Herling cautioned on this blog about making unsubstantiated “Made in the USA” claims on consumer products. He compared the Federal Trade Commission’s standard to California’s more stringent standard under Business & Professions Code 17200. Interestingly, just last week, the FTC announced that…

In February of this year, CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum announced that she would not seek a second term as Chairman of the agency. This morning she announced that she would be leaving the CPSC at the end of November. In addition, Commissioner Nancy Nord will end her term…

This week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) will decide whether to hold a full Commission hearing to receive oral comments on a notice of proposed rulemaking on magnet set safety. If the meeting notice is approved as drafted, the hearing will take place at 10 AM EST…

The role of the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in product liability cases is often a two-sided coin. Evidence of a recall is sometimes allowed to establish notice of a defect though the standard to invoke a recall of a product is not the same as proving a…

The FTC’s recent settlements with three mattress companies send a message to all companies making “VOC Free” (volatile organic compounds) and similar environmental or “green” claims. These mattress settlements come just nine months after FTC settlements with two of the nation’s leading paint companies, The Sherwin-Williams Company and…