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Christie Grymes Thompson

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Manufacture, import, or sell a connected device?  In addition to the potential hazards associated with the physical performance of the product, you also need to consider the potential hazards associated with the product’s connectivity.  The Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) is considering the Internet of Things and will hold a public hearing on May 16 for interested stakeholders to discuss the potential safety issues with connected products and the CPSC’s role in addressing these issues, along with industry best practices and current standards development.  Privacy and personal data security issues in the IoT environment do not fall under the CPSC’s jurisdiction, but the agency has the authority to cover consumer hazards resulting from IoT products, which could include fire, burn, shock, tripping or falling, laceration, contusion, and chemical exposure.  

The CPSC has identified two product safety challenges associated with IoT products: (1) preventing or eliminating hazardous conditions designed into products intentionally or without sufficient consideration; and (2) preventing and addressing incidents of hazardization.  While the former falls into the CPSC’s wheelhouse of preventing and correcting consumer product issues, the latter is a non-traditional area of product safety activity and could pose some challenges with the high rate of growth of connected products.   The CPSC defines hazardization as “the situation created when a product that was safe when obtained by a consumer, but which, when connected to a network, becomes hazardous through malicious, incorrect, or careless changes to operational code.”  Examples include a connected cooktop with a software glitch that ignites without the consumer’s knowledge and starts a fire or an integrated home security system that fails to download a software update and the default condition is to deactivate the system, disabling the smoke alarms without the consumer’s knowledge.…
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Last Friday, the CPSC voted to sue Britax Child Safety, Inc. to force the company to recall various models of single and double B.O.B. jogging strollers. The one-count administrative complaint alleges that the strollers present a substantial product hazard under Section 15(a)(2) of the Consumer Product Safety Act because they contain a product defect that…

Last week, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) announced that Michaels Stores Inc. has agreed to pay $1.5 million in civil penalties to settle allegations that Michaels failed to file a timely report about a safety hazard associated with a large glass vase that Michaels sold. In 2015, DOJ filed a complaint on behalf of the…

Last week, CPSC Commissioner Joseph Mohorovic, one of the two Republicans on the five-person Commission, announced that he would be ending his term as Commissioner two years early to join the Federal Regulatory and Compliance practice at the law firm Dentons.  His last day at the Commission was October 20.  Mr. Mohorovic became a Commissioner…

After months of speculation among the consumer protection and antitrust bars, Trump announced today his intention to nominate former Director of the Bureau of Competition and current Paul Weiss partner Joseph Simons as Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission.  Trump also announced his plan to nominate Rohit Chopra, currently a senior fellow at the Consumer…

Last Friday, ten consumer and privacy advocacy groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center, Center for Digital Democracy, and Consumer Watchdog, sent a letter to Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle, requesting that the CPSC recall the Google Home Mini smart speaker. The speaker was designed to respond to the voice commands, “OK, Google” and “Hey,…

The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation approved Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle’s nomination to become CPSC Chairman last Thursday in a 14-13 vote along party lines. She is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate, and would then be able to move forward with staff appointments. Buerkle has served as Acting Chairman…

Yesterday, President Trump announced his intent to nominate Dana Baiocco as CPSC Commissioner. If confirmed, Ms. Baiocco would replace Commissioner Marietta Robinson when her term expires on October 27, and would serve a seven-year term. Ms. Baiocco would join Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle and Commissioner Joseph Mohorovic, and give the five-member Commission a republican…

U.S. District Judge Haywood S. Gilliam Jr. said Friday that the court would pause the trial to consider whether the FTC presented sufficient evidence to support its allegations that DirecTV misled consumers by failing to adequately disclose the terms of its two-year subscription and introductory pricing offer.  The judge instructed attorneys for DirecTV to file…

On August 2, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California dismissed a putative class action lawsuit against Ross Stores that accused the discount retailer of misleading promotional pricing practices. The lawsuit stemmed from February and May 2015 purchases by the two lead plaintiffs of items bearing price tags with a selling…