Hasbro Inc. this month paid a $400,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated federal product safety laws by dragging its feet in reporting potentially dangerous flaws in one of its products, an infant carrier made by its Playskool Baby division. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission alleges that Hasbro failed to report in a timely manner that the Fold ‘n Travel carrier’s handle locking mechanism could fail, dumping infants onto the ground.
Hasbro received reports of nine injuries, including seven serious head injuries, before it reported the problem, according to the CPSC.
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Hasbro spokesman Wayne Charness didn’t return calls by press time, but the company provided a statement denying any wrongdoing.
“Safety is the number one priority at Playskool Baby,” the statement said. “However, we have agreed to settle with the CPSC to avoid prolonged legal proceedings.”
Hasbro sold about 38,500 of the carriers across the country from 1991 to June 1993, according to the CPSC. The $35-carrier has sleeping, sitting and rocking positions and a carrying handle. The CPSC alleges that, in some cases, a faulty locking mechanism allowed the carrier to swing forward suddenly while being held by the handle.
Hasbro stopped making the carrier in 1993 and recalled the product in 1996, according to the company’s statement. The statement urges any consumers that still have a Fold ‘n Travel infant carrier to stop using it immediately.
CPSC trial lawyer Bill Moore Jr. said the penalty results, not from the alleged defect, but from Hasbro’s alleged failure to report the problem in a timely manner.
“The law sets a reasonable person test,” Moore said. “If a reasonable person has cause to believe that a product had a defect that could create–not does create or absolutely creates–a substantial hazard, then you must report it, period.”
The $400,000 penalty paid by Hasbro is a quarter of what it could have been, though. The Consumer Product Safety Act provides for fines of $6,000 per product sold up to a ceiling of $1.6 million, Moore said. The commission is allowed to reduce the penalty after taking into account the nature of the defect, the severity of the risk for injury, the occurrence of injuries, the number of products sold and the size of the company.
Several companies that make hybrid car seat-baby carriers have recalled their products recently because of handle locking mechanisms that weren’t adequate for the heavy car seats.
Hasbro is one of a half-dozen companies that have been slapped with civil penalties in the last two years for not reporting potentially dangerous flaws fast enough.
The CPSC gave its Commendation for Significant Contributions to Product Safety award to Playskool in 1994 for designing the 1-2-3 High Chair with a special safety restraint, but Hasbro announced two product recalls last year.
In July, Playskool recalled about 273,000 spillproof cups after receiving 115 reports that the cup’s flexible spout had torn, posing a choking hazard to young children. And the Pawtucket-based company recalled about 618,000 Star Wars Lightsaber toys in June after it received 38 reports of the toy’s batteries overheating or rupturing. There were three reports of minor burns to consumers, according to the CPSC.
Hasbro said consumers can get a $35 refund for their Fold ‘N Travel infant carriers by calling Playskool Bay at 1-800-742-9755.
