The Case of the Quiet Recall: CPSC's 2004 Civil Penalty Cases Hit 'Do-It-Yourself' Corrective Actions
December 29, 2004
In 1997, a company named Sun-It (a subsidiary of E&B Giftware) manufactured and distributed some 47,000 citronella candles known as the "Money to Burn Torch." As it happened, the wrapper surrounding the candle collected superheated melted wax. Some consumers reported to Sun-It that they had suffered serious burns when they blew on the candles or bumped into them. Others said that they had been burned when the candles unexpectedly flared. In all, over a period of 5 months, Sun-It received notice of 14 incidents in which consumers claimed to have suffered serious burns and permanent scarring after having been scalded by hot wax from the candles. Sun-It responded to these reports by stopping sale of the candles and recalling candles that remained in retail inventories. Nearly 17,000 candles, including roughly 3300 in unshipped inventory ' more than a third of the total production ' were recalled and destroyed.
Case Notes
December 29, 2004
Highlights of the latest product liability cases from around the country.
Online: Exploring the Depths of NIH Web Site
December 29, 2004
Last month, this column explored parts of The National Institutes of Health Web site, <i>www.nlm.nih.gov</i>; we continue to discover what it has to offer this month. ToxTown is an interactive guide in both English and Spanish about how the environment, chemicals and toxic substances affect human health. The link contains places to visit, such as factories, schools and homes, and the various toxic chemicals that might be found there, eg, arsenic, asbestos, benzene and carbon monoxide. Household Products Database contains information on the health effects of common household products under your sink, in the garage, in the bathroom and on the laundry room shelf. Medline/PubMed provides access to more than 12 million references from 4600 biomedical journals, many of which have links to abstracts and in some cases, the full text of articles.
Stop! Don't Take That Expert's Deposition
December 29, 2004
FRCP 26(a)(2)(B) governing the disclosure of expert witnesses in federal court was adopted in 1993 with the hope that "the length of the deposition of such experts should be reduced, and in many cases the report may eliminate the need for a deposition" altogether. Advisory Committee Notes, Fed. R. Civ. Pro., Rule 26, 28 U.S.C.A. (1993).
Tax Alert: Compensation And Benefits
December 27, 2004
Qualified retirement plans that provide immediate 'cash-out' distributions to a terminated participant if the vested benefit is $5000 or less will have to be amended to comply with Department of Labor (DOL) final regulations.
Commentary: Copyright Bandits At Large
December 27, 2004
The Supreme Court will soon decide whether to hear one of the most important commercial cases to reach the Court in decades. <i>MGM v. Grokster</i> raises a copyright challenge to the Internet-based services that enable millions of users around the world to swap digital copies of sound recordings and movies with a few clicks of a mouse. At stake is the legitimacy of our copyright system in the digital age.
Beyond Sarbanes-Oxley: Conscientious Compliance
December 27, 2004
A confluence of various regulations and court decisions, beyond Sarbanes-Oxley, has made it de rigueur to adopt corporate codes of conduct or corporate compliance and ethic programs. But arguably, and not fully appreciated, the only thing that could be worse for directors and officers these days than not having adopted a corporate compliance program, is having adopted one and not effectively implementing it. Boards of directors and their advisors must now focus on not merely adopting programs, but on establishing procedures and processes that provide active oversight of directors of compliance programs.
Cash-Out Distribution Plans Require Amendment
December 27, 2004
Qualified retirement plans that provide immediate cash-out distributions to a terminated participant if the vested benefit is "$5000 or less" must be amended to comply with Department of Labor (DOL) final regulations. The final regulations are effective for rollovers of mandatory distributions made on or after March 28, 2005. The final regulations provide a safe harbor for fiduciaries of tax-qualified pension plans that are required to roll over plan benefits into an individual retirement plan when a terminated employee fails to elect a distribution method.
