[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 23 (Wednesday, February 4, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5786-5788]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-2753]
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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION
[CPSC Docket No. 98-C0005]
TJX Companies, Inc., a Corporation; Provisional Acceptance of a
Settlement Agreement and Order
AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.
ACTION: Provisional Acceptance of a Settlement Agreement under the
Consumer Product Safety Act.
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SUMMARY: It is the policy of the Commission to publish settlements
which it provisionally accepts under the Consumer Product Safety Act in
the Federal Register in accordance with the terms of 16 CFR 1605.13(d).
Published below is a provisionally-accepted Settlement Agreement with
The TJX Companies, Inc., a corporation, containing a civil penalty of
$150,000.
DATES: Any interested person may ask the Commission not to accept this
agreement or otherwise comment on its contents by filing a written
request with the Office of the Secretary by February 19, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to comment on this Settlement Agreement
should send written comments to the Comment 98-C0005, Office of the
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Dennis C. Kacoyanis, Trail Attorney, Office of Compliance and
Enforcement, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Washington, DC 20207;
telephone (301) 504-0626.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Agreement and Order appears
below.
Dated: January 29, 1998.
Sadye E. Dunn,
Secretary.
Consumer Product Safety Commission
[CPSC Docket No. 98-C0005]
In the Matter of The TJX Companies, Inc., a Corporation
Settlement Agreement and Order
1. The TJX Companies, Inc., (hereinafter, ``Respondent''), a
corporation, enters into this Settlement Agreement (hereinafter,
``Agreement'') with the staff of the Consumer Product Safety
Commission, and agrees to the
[[Page 5787]]
entry of the Order incorporated herein. The purpose of this
Agreement and Order is to settle the staff's allegations that
Respondent knowingly sold and offered for sale, in commerce, certain
women's 100% rayon sheer chiffon skirts and scarves that failed to
comply with the Clothing Standard for the Flammability of Clothing
Textiles (hereinafter, ``Clothing Standard''), 16 CFR part 1610, in
violation of section 3 of the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA), 15 U.S.C.
1192.
I. The Parties
2. The ``staff'' is the staff of the Consumer Product Safety
Commission (hereinafter, ``Commission''), an independent regulatory
commission of the United States government established pursuant to
section 4 of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), 15 U.S.C. 2053.
3. Respondent is a corporation organized and existing under the
laws of the State of Delaware with principal corporate offices at
770 Cochituate Road, Framingham, MA 01701. Respondent is an off-
price retailer of wearing apparel and accessories, and is comprised
of various chain stores including, but not limited to T. J. Maxx,
and prior to September 30, 1995 included Hit or Miss.
II. Allegations of the Staff
4. In 1994 and 1995, Respondent sold, or offered for sale, in
commerce, 17,571 women's 100% sheer chiffon rayon skirts and 17,247
women's 100% sheer chiffon rayon scarves.
5. The skirts and scarves identified in paragraph 4 above are
subject to the Clothing Standard, 16 CFR 1610, issued under section
4 of the FFA, 15 U.S.C. 1193.
6. The staff tested the skirts and scarves identified in
paragraph 4 above for compliance with the requirements of the
Clothing Standard. See 16 CFR 1610.3 and .4. The test results showed
that the skirts and the scarves violated the requirements of the
Clothing Standard and, therefore, are dangerously flammable and
unsuitable for clothing because they are susceptible to rapid and
intense burning when exposed to an ignition source.
7. On August 5, 1994, the staff informed Respondent that the
skirts identified in paragraph 4 above failed to comply with the
Clothing Standard and requested that it review its entire product
line for other potential violations. The staff urged Respondent to
examine particularly other 100% rayon and rayon/cotton blends
featuring a sheer chiffon layer.
8. On July 19, 1995 and July 24, 1995, the staff informed
Respondent that the scarves identified in paragraph 4 above failed
to comply with the Clothing Standard.
9. Respondent knowingly sold, or offered for sale in commerce,
the skirts and scarves identified in paragraph 4 above, as the term
``knowingly is defined in section 5(e)(4) of the FFA, 15 U.S.C.
1194(e)(4), in violation of section 3 of the FFA, 15 U.S.C. 1192,
for which a civil penalty may be imposed pursuant to section 5(e)(1)
of the FFA, 15 U.S.C. 1194(e)(1).
III. Response of Respondent
10. Respondent specifically denies that it sold or offered for
sale garments identified in paragraph 4 above that violated the
flammability requirements of the general wearing apparel standard or
failed to meet any other applicable federal standard.
11. The garments identified in paragraph 4 above were purchased
from vendors pursuant to written and binding warranties that the
garments met all applicable federal standards. Respondent's vendors
have represented that independent laboratory testing of the garments
at issue confirmed that they met all applicable federal standards.
12. Respondent promptly and diligently assisted the Commission
staff in its efforts to implement the voluntary recalls of allegedly
violative skirts in 1994 and filed a written report with the
Commission which set forth the steps it had undertaken and in which
it committed to monitor its purchase of similar skirts. At no time
after the submission of this report, did the staff provide TJX with
any indication that the actions undertaken by TJX with regard to the
recall or monitoring of skirts were inadequate to satisfy either
TJX's legal obligations or the Commission's express wishes.
13. Respondent also promptly and diligently assisted the
Commission in its efforts to implement the voluntary recall of
allegedly violative scarves in 1995.
14. Respondent has received no reports of injuries from the use
of any products enumerated in paragraph 4 of this Agreement and has
been informed of the existence of no such injuries from such
products identified in paragraph 4 above by the staff.
IV. Agreement of the Parties
15. For purposes of this Settlement Agreement and Order, the
Commission has jurisdiction over Respondent and the subject matter
of this Settlement Agreement and Order under the Consumer Product
Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2051 et seq.; the Flammable Fabrics Act (FFA),
15 U.S.C. 1191 et seq.; and the Federal Trade Commission Act (FTCA),
15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.
16. This Settlement Agreement and Order is entered into for
settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by
Respondent that it violated any law or is in any way at fault. Nor
does this Agreement constitute an admission by Respondent that it is
paying a civil penalty. Respondent enters into this Agreement solely
to settle the allegations of the staff that a civil penalty is
appropriate. Nothing in this Agreement precludes TJX from raising
any defenses in any future litigation not arising out of the terms
of this Agreement and Order.
17. This Agreement does not constitute a determination by the
Commission that Respondent knowingly violated the FFA and the
Clothing Standard. This Agreement becomes effective only upon its
final acceptance by the Commission and service of the incorporated
Order upon Respondent.
18. Upon provisional acceptance of this Settlement Agreement and
Order by the Commission, this Settlement Agreement and Order shall
be placed on the public record and shall be published in the Federal
Register in accordance with the procedures set forth in 16 CFR
1605.13(d). If the Commission does not receive any written request
not to accept the Settlement Agreement and Order within 15 days, the
Settlement Agreement and Order will be deemed to be finally accepted
on the 20th day after the date it is published in the Federal
Register.
19. Upon final acceptance of this Settlement Agreement by the
Commission and issuance of the Final Order, Respondent waives any
rights to a formal hearing as to any findings of fact and
conclusions of law relating to the staff's allegations in this
matter.
20. Upon final acceptance of this Settlement Agreement by the
Commission and issuance of the Final Order, the Commission
specifically waives its right to initiate either by referring to the
Department of Justice or bringing in its own name any civil,
administrative, or criminal action relating to any of the events
giving rise to the allegations of the staff enumerated in paragraphs
4 through 9 above against: (i) Respondent, (ii) any of Respondent's
former or current affiliated entities; (iii) any shareholder,
officer, director, employee, or agent of any entity referenced in
(i) or (ii); and (iv) any successor, heir, or assign of the persons
described in (i), (ii), or (iii).
21. Upon final acceptance by the Commission of this Settlement
Agreement and Order, the Commission shall issue the attached Order
incorporated herein by reference.
22. A violation of the attached Order shall subject Respondent
to appropriate legal action.
23. The Commission may disclose the terms of this Settlement
Agreement and Order to the public consistent with section 6(b) of
the CPSA, 15 U.S.C. 2055(b).
Respondent the TJX Companies, Inc.
Dated: December 9, 1997.
Bernard Cammarata,
President and Chief Executive Officer, The TJX Companies, Inc. 770
Cochituate Road, Framingham, MA 01701.
Commission Staff
Eric L. Stone,
Director, Division of Administrative Litigation, Office of Compliance.
Alan H. Schoem,
Assistant Executive Director, Office of Compliance, Consumer Product
Safety Commission, Washington, D.C. 20207-0001.
Dated: December 10, 1997.
Dennis C. Kacoyanis,
Trial Attorney Ronald G. Yelenik, Trial Attorney Division of
Administrative Litigation, Office of Compliance.
Order
Upon consideration of the Settlement Agreement entered into
between Respondent The TJX Companies, Inc., (hereinafter,
``Respondent''), a corporation, and the staff of the Consumer
Product Safety Commission (``Commission''); and the Commission
having jurisdiction over the subject matter and Respondent; and it
appearing that the Settlement Agreement and Order is in the public
interest, it is
[[Page 5788]]
Ordered, that the Settlement Agreement and Order be and hereby
is accepted, as indicated below; and it is
Further ordered, that Respondent pay to the United States
Treasury a civil penalty of one hundred fifty thousand dollars
($150,000.00) within twenty (20) days after service upon Respondent
of the Final Order.
Provisionally accepted and Provisional Order issued on the 29th
day of January 1998.
By order of the Commission,
Sadye E. Dunn,
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. 98-2753 Filed 2-3-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-M
