This morning at the Consumer Federation of America’s Consumer Assembly in Washington, DC, Consumer Products Safety Commission Chairman Elliot Kaye announced a record civil penalty against Gree Electric Appliances, the manufacturer of millions of particularly flammable dehumidifiers that were recalled in 2013 and 2014. The company has been ordered to pay $15.45 million to the CPSC to settle charges that they failed to report fires to the Commission, “knowingly made misrepresentations to CPSC staff,” and put UL safety marks on products that didn’t meet UL standards. [More]
civil penalties
AirTran Fined $500,000 For Lousy Wheelchair Service
By 8.31.10
The Transportation Department has served AirTran a $500,000 civil penalty for repeated failures to accommodate disabled travelers, reports Associated Press. The airline was also cited for not providing adequate responses to customers who complained, and for not properly filing complaints with the government. The biggest issue, however, was that it doesn’t always provide wheelchairs to disabled passengers in a timely manner. AirTran says it’s working on implementing a wheelchair tracking system at its hubs. [More]
