The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) recently announced that Keurig Green Mountain, Inc. has agreed to pay a $5.8 million civil penalty associated with the charge that they failed to immediately report defective coffee brewers. According to the CPSC, the charges stated that Keurig knowingly failed to report a defect, which posed an unreasonable risk of serious injury, to the CPSC in a timely fashion. The coffee brewing system in question was the Keurig MINI Plus Brewing Systems. Under federal law, product manufacturers are required to notify the CPSC of any potentially dangerous defects as soon as they know about them.
Defective Keurig MINI Plus Brewing Systems
Keurig received approximately 200 reports of hot water, coffee and grounds spray and shooting out of the defective brewers. These issues were reported to the company between 2010 and 2014. In over half of those reported incidents, people suffered from burn-related injuries to their faces, hands or other body parts. Some of the injuries were second and third-degree burns. In December of 2014, Keurig finally decided to conduct a recall. They recalled 6.6 million MINI Plus Brewing Systems. These coffee brewers were initially sold online and at a variety of retailers including Walmart, Kmart, Kohl’s and Target.
Keurig and Consumer Safety Moving Forward
At this time, Keurig has agreed to pay the multi-million dollar civil penalty. Additionally, they’ve agreed to design and implement a compliance program. Maintenance of this consumer safety program is to improve Keurig’s future compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act. Although Keurig has agreed to the $5.8 million civil penalty and additional implementation of a consumer safety compliance program, their settlement did not constitute an admission of the CPSC’s charges.
Consumer Product Safety in San Jose
By law, manufacturers are required to report any safety defects they discover to the CPSC immediately. Waiting for months or even years to alert the CPSC and initiate a recall can put more consumers at risk from exposure to defective, faulty and potentially injury-causing products. Alexander Law Group, LLP is always ready to answer questions and share the results of our research and experience with the public. Our goal is to make a difference for our clients and our community.
