WASHINGTON – The Sears, Roebuck and Co. has agreed to pay a $500,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated federal reporting requirements for not disclosing reported defects in certain models of Craftsman rear-engine lawn mowers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced Friday.
Between April 1999 and September 2001, Sears, Hoffman Estates, Ill., received about 1,600 reports of fuel leakage and fuel tank cracking in the mowers. Although there were no known injuries or deaths involving these lawn mowers, the company failed to report the defect to CPSC as required under the Consumer Product Safety Act.
Murray Inc., Lawrenceburg, Tenn., manufactured 36,000 rear-engine riding mowers for Sears under the Craftsman label. Murray recalled the lawn mowers in March 2003 and paid a $375,000 civil penalty in September 2003 for filing a late report on the lawn mowers.
According to federal law, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers are required to report to CPSC within 24 hours after obtaining information that reasonably supports a product contains a defect that could create a substantial injury risk to the public, presents an unreasonable serious injury risk or death or violates a federal safety standard.
In agreeing to settle the matter, Sears, Roebuck and Co. denies that it violated the reporting requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Act.
Source: PRNewswire
