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Williams-Sonoma Agrees to Pay $700,000 Civil Penalty for Failure to Report Defective Pottery Barn Kids Roman Shades

Release Date: October 30, 2014

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that Williams-Sonoma, Inc., of San Francisco, Calif., has agreed to pay a $700,000 civil penalty.

The agreement resolves CPSC staff’s charges that the firm knowingly failed to report to CPSC immediately, as required by federal law, a defect involving Pottery Barn Kids Roman shades with exposed inner cords. Williams-Sonoma sold the Roman shades nationwide, through its Pottery Barn Kids brand, between January 2003 and November 2007, for $30 to $60. CPSC staff charged that the Pottery Barn Kids Roman shades posed a strangulation hazard to young children.

By the time that Williams-Sonoma filed its full report with CPSC, seven consumers had reported that children had become entangled on the inner cords of the Pottery Barn Kids Roman shades. Williams-Sonoma ultimately recalled approximately 85,000 of the Roman shades in cooperation with CPSC.

Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors, and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or fails to comply with any consumer product safety requirement enforced by CPSC.

Williams-Sonoma has agreed to continue to maintain the compliance program and system of internal controls referenced in an earlier civil penalty settlement with CPSC, designed to ensure compliance with the safety statutes and regulations enforced by the Commission.  

In agreeing to the settlement, Williams-Sonoma neither admits nor denies CPSC staff’s charges.

The penalty agreement (pdf) has been accepted provisionally by the Commission in a 4-1 vote.

Release Number
15-019

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The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products has contributed to a decline in the rate of injuries associated with consumer products over the past 50 years. 

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