On March 16, 2010, The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) approved (by a 4-1 vote) a final rule regarding violations of CPSC laws that essentially raises the limits of recoverable damages in product defect lawsuits nationwide. The rule will affect various areas of product safety law, including the penalties outlined under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), the Federal Hazardous Substances Act (FHSA) and the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA).
When determining product defect cases, the CPSCA and the above Acts consider several factors in each case: the severity of the risk of injury, the occurrence of absence of injury and the number of defective products or amount of substance distributed. The new rule amends these Acts to require the Commission to now also consider three additional factors: (1) the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation, (2) the appropriateness of the penalty in relation to the size of the business or person charged and (3) other factors as appropriate.
Taking these additional factors into account, the CPSC has raised the ability to seek higher penalty amounts. As a result of the new rule, the maximum penalty for each violation of the above-mentioned Acts increased from $8,000 to $100,000 as of August 14, 2009. In addition, maximum penalty amounts for a related series of violations increased from $1.8 million to $15 million.
These dramatic increases have blown open the possibilities in product defect law. If you or someone you love has been injured as the result of a defective product, fabric or substance, contact a personal injury lawyer who can help you determine whether or not you have a case effected by these new rulings.
