[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