DOJ Files Lawsuit Against Michaels Stores, Says Company Chose Profits Over Safety in Selling Defective Vases
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jhimages/iStock Editorial/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against Michaels Stores Inc. for failure to report a safety hazard involving glass vases that could shatter and cause injury.
The vases, the DOJ says, shattered in customers’ hands, sometimes as the customer lifted the vase from the store shelf. Some customers suffered lacerations or nerve damage and some even needed surgery to repair severed tendons caused by the shattering vases.
“Michaels allegedly failed to report critical information about the safety of one of its products,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Mizer said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will continue to protect the public against companies that put profits over safety.”
The DOJ claims that Michaels, in addition to failing to notify the Consumer Product Safety Commission immediately, eventually notified the CPSC in a misleading manner.
Michaels’ notification said that the company did not import the vases, when the company “should have known it was the importer,” according to the DOJ. “We believe that Michaels chose to profit from selling defective vases that put people at risk,” CPSC Chairman Elliot Kaye said, “instead of following the law and immediately reporting that their vases were shattering and causing great harm to customers.”
The vases were sold in Michaels stores from 2006 to 2010.
The cause of the defect, according to the DOJ statement, is that the walls of the vase are too thin to sustain normal handling. Michaels allegedly received numerous complaints beginning in 2007, but did not recall the vases until September 2010.
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