The Justice Department, together with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), announced the filing of a complaint against Cixi Miaojie Electrical Appliance Co. Ltd. and Changsha Jiayi Tianzhuo Trading Co. Ltd. of China. The complaint seeks mandatory recall relief for consumers under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) concerning the defendants’ manufacture and sale of allegedly imminently hazardous immersion water heaters.
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the complaint alleges that the defendants manufactured and sold the immersion water heaters to consumers in the United States under the label “Lakkzoom.” It further alleges that the products are imminently hazardous because they can overheat and catch fire within minutes when energized and either completely or partially out of water.
The complaint alleges that the CPSC received 235 fire-related reports and investigated several incidents involving the defendants’ immersion water heaters. According to the filing, CPSC testing showed that the heaters could catch fire within minutes in certain circumstances. The CPSA authorizes lawsuits against manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers to require a recall of consumer products that present an imminent and unreasonable risk of death, serious illness or severe personal injury.
Today’s action is the Commission’s first use of its Section 12 imminent hazard authority since 1987, underscoring our commitment to making full use of the tools Congress provided to protect consumers.
The statement was made by CPSC Acting Chairman Peter Feldman, who also said the Commission would not hesitate to use the authority Congress had entrusted to it when dangerous products threaten American families. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the complaint sought an urgent recall to protect American consumers from imminent danger. Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate of the Justice Department’s Civil Division said the agencies would work together to hold accountable those who put hazardous products in the hands of American consumers.
The United States is represented by Senior Trial Attorney James T. Nelson and Trial Attorney Jordan A. Ryan Rinear of the Civil Division’s Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean M. Tepe for the District of Columbia. CPSC personnel assisting the action are Michael Rogal, Joseph Kessler, Renee McCune and Alex Dennis. The claims in the complaint are allegations that, if the case proceeds to trial, the government would be required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence.