General Electric Co. has agreed to pay a $3.5 million civil penalty as well as modify internal procedures regarding product safety in a settlement with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The penalty, announced last week, is part of a settlement of charges that Fairfield-based GE knowingly failed to report to the safety commission defects and an unreasonable risk of serious injury concerning two models of freestanding dual-fuel ranges, a type of stove/oven, sold between June 2002 and December 2005, and various models of dishwashers sold between July 2003 and October 2010.
According to a press release from the commission, a connector in the range’s wire harness can overheat, and the dishwashers can short-circuit from condensation building up on the control board, which poses fire and burn hazards.
In April 2009, GE and the CPSC announced the recall of 28,000 dual-fuel ranges. The manufacturer did not report the hazards with the ranges to the commission until February 2009, by which point GE had received 13 reports of harness and wiring overheating in the back of the range, including five fires. GE received notice of the hazard in 2004, the CPSC reported.
GE did not report the hazard with the dishwashers to the safety commission until September 2010. By then, GE had received several reports of fires that had occurred due to overheated control panels, including a report received in 2007, and the company had paid out settlements to consumers based on these reports, according to the CPSC. In October 2010, GE and the safety commission announced the recall of about 174,000 dishwashers.
Federal law generally requires reporting of substantial product hazards by manufacturers, distributors and retailers as soon as possible. In agreeing to the settlement, General Electric did not admit to the CPSC’s charges that its products contained defects that could create a substantial hazard or create an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or that the company failed to notify the commission in a timely manner, in accordance with the reporting requirements of the Consumer Product Safety Act.
In addition to paying the $3.5 million civil penalty, General Electric has agreed that GE Appliances will maintain a program designed to ensure compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act and a system of internal controls and procedures for recording, processing and reporting information regarding potential safety issues.
