[Federal Register Volume 73, Number 83 (Tuesday, April 29, 2008)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23200-23202]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E8-9265]


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CONSUMER PRODUCT SAFETY COMMISSION

[CPSC Docket No. 08-COO11]


Life is Good, Inc., Provisional Acceptance of a Settlement 
Agreement and Order

AGENCY: Consumer Product Safety Commission.

ACTION: Notice.

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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 1118.20(e). 
Published below is a provisionally accepted Settlement Agreement with 
Life is Good, Inc., containing a civil penalty of $50,000.00.

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 May 14, 2008.

ADDRESSES: Persons wishing to comment on this Settlement Agreement 
should send written comments to the Comment 08-COO11, Office of the 
Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, 
Room 502, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4408.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Seth B. Popkin, Trial Attorney, Legal 
Division, Office of Compliance and Field Operations, Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, 4330 East West Highway, Bethesda, Maryland 20814-
4408; telephone (301) 504-7612.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The text of the Agreement and Order appears 
below.

    Dated: April 23, 2008.
Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary.

In the Matter of Life is Good, Inc.; CPSC Docket No. 08-C0011

Settlement Agreement

    1. In accordance with 16 CFR 1118.20, Life is Good, Inc. (``LIG'') 
and the staff (``Staff'') of the United States Consumer Product Safety 
Commission (``Commission'') enter into this Settlement Agreement 
(``Agreement''). The Agreement and the incorporated attached Order 
(``Order'') settle the Staff's allegations set forth below.

Parties

    2. The Commission is an independent federal regulatory agency 
established pursuant to, and responsible for the enforcement of, the 
Consumer Product Safety Act, 15 U.S.C. 2051-2084 (``CPSA'').
    3. LIG is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of 
Massachusetts, with its principal offices located in Boston, 
Massachusetts. At all times relevant hereto, LIG sold apparel and 
accessories.

Staff Allegations

    4. Beginning in or about March 2006, LIG distributed 2,493 
children's hooded sweatshirts with drawstrings through the hoods, and, 
beginning in or about July 2007, LIG sold and/or held for sale or 
distribution after introduction into commerce, 7,793 Zippity Hoodie and 
Sherpa Full Zip children's hooded sweatshirts with drawstrings through 
the hood (collectively ``Drawstring Sweatshirts'').
    5. Retailers sold Drawstring Sweatshirts to consumers.
    6. The Drawstring Sweatshirts are ``consumer product[s],'' and, at 
all times

[[Page 23201]]

relevant hereto, LIG was a ``distributor'' of those consumer products, 
which were ``distributed in commerce,'' as those terms are defined in 
CPSA sections 3(a)(1), (5), (11), and (12), 15 U.S.C. 2052(a)(1), (5), 
(11), and (12).
    7. In February 1996, the Staff issued the Guidelines for 
Drawstrings on Children's Upper Outerwear (``Guidelines'') to help 
prevent children from strangling or entangling on neck and waist 
drawstrings. The Guidelines state that drawstrings can cause, and have 
caused, injuries and deaths when they catch on items such as playground 
equipment, bus doors, or cribs. In the Guidelines, the Staff recommends 
that there be no hood and neck drawstrings in children's upper 
outerwear sized 2T to 12.
    8. In June 1997, ASTM adopted a voluntary standard, ASTM F1816-97, 
that incorporated the Guidelines. The Guidelines state that firms 
should be aware of the hazards and should be sure garments they sell 
conform to the voluntary standard.
    9. On May 19, 2006, the Commission posted on its Web site a letter 
from the Commission's Director of the Office of Compliance to 
manufacturers, importers, and retailers of children's upper outerwear. 
The letter urges them to make certain that all children's upper 
outerwear sold in the United States complies with ASTM F1816-97. The 
letter states that the Staff considers children's upper outerwear with 
drawstrings at the hood or neck area to be defective and to present a 
substantial risk of injury to young children under Federal Hazardous 
Substances Act (``FHSA'') section 15(c), 15 U.S.C. 1274(c). The letter 
also notes the CPSA's section 15(b) reporting requirements.
    10. LIG reported to the Commission that there had been no incidents 
or injuries from the Drawstring Sweatshirts.
    11. LIG's distribution in commerce of the Drawstring Sweatshirts 
did not meet the Guidelines or ASTM F1816-97, failed to abide by the 
Staff's May 2006 defect notice, and posed a strangulation hazard to 
children.
    12. On April 17, 2007 and August 30, 2007, recalls of the 
Drawstring Sweatshirts were announced, informing consumers that they 
should immediately remove the drawstrings to eliminate the hazard.
    13. LIG had presumed and actual knowledge that the Drawstring 
Sweatshirts distributed in commerce posed a strangulation hazard and 
presented a substantial risk of injury to children under FHSA section 
15(c)(1), 15 U.S.C. 1274(c)(1). LIG had obtained information that 
reasonably supported the conclusion that the Drawstring Sweatshirts 
contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard or 
that they created an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death. CPSA 
sections 1 5(b)(2) and (3), 15 U.S.C. 2064(b)(2) and (3), required LIG 
to immediately inform the Commission of the defect and risk.
    14. LIG knowingly failed to immediately inform the Commission about 
the Drawstring Sweatshirts as required by CPSA sections 15(b)(2) and 
(3), 15 U.S.C. 2064(b)(2) and (3), and as the term ``knowingly'' is 
defined in CPSA section 20(d), 15 U.S.C. 2069(d). This failure violated 
CPSA section 19(a)(4), 15 U.S.C. 2068(a)(4). Pursuant to CPSA section 
20, 15 U.S.C. 2069, this failure subjected LIG to civil penalties.

LIG Response

    15. LIG denies the Staff's allegations above that LIG: (i) Had 
actual knowledge of the risk posed by Drawstring Sweatshirts and (ii) 
knowingly violated the CPSA. LIG states that the Drawstring Sweatshirts 
sold by a retailer beginning in March 2006 were reported to the 
Commission by the retailer, and that the retailer, in cooperation with 
the Commission, voluntarily recalled them in April 2007. LIG provided 
information to the retailer in connection with the retailer's report to 
the Commission. In August 2007, LIG voluntarily reported to the 
Commission about the Drawstring Sweatshirts it began distributing in 
July 2007. In August 2007, LIG, in cooperation with the Commission, 
conducted a voluntary recall of the Drawstring Sweatshirts distributed 
in July and August 2007. That recall succeeded in recovering all but 
five of such Drawstring Sweatshirts.

Agreement of the Parties

    16. Under the CPSA, the Commission has jurisdiction over this 
matter and over LIG.
    17. The parties enter into the Agreement for settlement purposes 
only. The Agreement does not constitute an admission by LIG, or a 
determination by the Commission, that LIG has knowingly violated the 
CPSA.
    18. In settlement of the Staff's allegations, LIG shall pay a civil 
penalty in the amount of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00). The civil 
penalty shall be paid in two (2) installments as follows: $25,000.00 
shall be paid within twenty (20) calendar days of service of the 
Commission's final Order accepting the Agreement; and $25,000.00 shall 
be paid within one hundred eighty (180) calendar days of service of the 
Commission's final Order accepting the Agreement. Each payment shall be 
by check payable to the order of the United States Treasury.
    19. Upon provisional acceptance of the Agreement, the Agreement 
shall be placed on the public record and published in the Federal 
Register in accordance with the procedures set forth in 16 CFR 
1118.20(e). In accordance with 16 CFR 11 18.20(f), if the Commission 
does not receive any written request not to accept the Agreement within 
fifteen (15) calendar days, the Agreement shall be deemed finally 
accepted on the sixteenth (16th) calendar day after the date it is 
published in the Federal Register.
    20. Upon the Commission's final acceptance of the Agreement and 
issuance of the final Order, LIG knowingly, voluntarily, and completely 
waives any rights it may have in this matter to the following: (1) An 
administrative or judicial hearing; (2) judicial review or other 
challenge or contest of the validity of the Order or of the 
Commission's actions; (3) a determination by the Commission of whether 
LIG failed to comply with the CPSA and its underlying regulations; (4) 
a statement of findings of fact and conclusions of law and (5) any 
claims under the Equal Access to Justice Act.
    21. The Commission may publicize the terms of the Agreement and the 
Order.
    22. The Agreement and the Order shall apply to, and be binding 
upon, LIG and each of its successors and assigns.
    23. The Commission issues the Order under the provisions of the 
CPSA, and violation of the Order may subject LIG to appropriate legal 
action.
    24. The Agreement may be used in interpreting the Order. 
Understandings, agreements, representations, or interpretations apart 
from those contained in the Agreement and the Order may not be used to 
vary or contradict their terms. The Agreement shall not be waived, 
amended, modified, or otherwise altered without written agreement 
thereto executed by the party against whom such waiver, amendment, 
modification, or alteration is sought to be enforced.
    25. If any provision of the Agreement and the Order is held to be 
illegal, invalid, or unenforceable under present or future laws 
effective during the terms of the Agreement and the Order, such 
provision shall be fully severable. The balance of the Agreement and 
the Order shall remain in full force and effect, unless the Commission 
and LIG agree that severing the provision materially affects the 
purpose of the Agreement and the Order.
    26. Pursuant to section 6(d) of the Interim Delegation of Authority 
ordered

[[Page 23202]]

by the Commission on February 1, 2008, the Commission delegated to the 
Assistant Executive Director for Compliance and Field Operations the 
authority to act, with the concurrence of the General Counsel, for the 
Commission under 16 CFR 1118.20 with respect to Staff allegations that 
any person or firm violated 15 U.S.C. 2068, where the total amount of 
the settlement involves no more than $100,000.

Life is Good, Inc.
    Dated: 3/17/08.

By: Roy Heffem,
Chief Financial Optimist, Life is Good, Inc., 283-285 Newbury 
Street, Boston, MA 02115.

    Dated: 3/17/08.
By: Jo Banse, General Counsel, Life is Good, Inc., 283-285 Newbury 
Street, Boston, MA 02115.

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Staff.
J. Gibson Mullan,
Assistant Executive Director, Office of Compliance and Field 
Operations.

Ronald G. Yelenik,
Acting Director, Legal Division, Office of Compliance and Field 
Operations.

    Dated: 4/16/08.

By: Seth B. Popkin,
Trial Attorney, Legal Division, Office of Compliance and Field 
Operations.

In the Matter of Life is Good, Inc.; CPSC Docket No. 08-C0011

Order

    Upon consideration of the Settlement Agreement entered into between 
Life is Good, Inc. (``LIG'') and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety 
Commission (``Commission'') staff, and the Commission having 
jurisdiction over the subject matter and over LIG, and pursuant to the 
authority delegated in section 6(d) of the Interim Delegation of 
Authority ordered by the Commission on February 1, 2008, and it 
appearing that the Settlement Agreement and the Order are in the public 
interest, it isOrdered, that the Settlement Agreement be, and hereby 
is, accepted; and it isFurther Ordered, that LIG shall pay a civil 
penalty in the amount of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00). The civil 
penalty shall be paid in two (2) installments as follows: $25,000.00 
shall be paid within twenty (20) calendar days of service of the 
Commission's final Order accepting the Agreement; and $25,000.00 shall 
be paid within one hundred eighty (180) calendar days of service of the 
Commission's final Order accepting the Agreement. The payment shall be 
made by check payable to the order of the United States Treasury. Upon 
the failure of LIG to make any of the foregoing payments when due, 
interest on the unpaid amount shall accrue and be paid by LIG at the 
federal legal rate of interest set forth at 28 U.S.C. 961(a) and (b).
    Provisionally accepted and Provisional Order issued on the 22nd day 
of April, 2008.

    By Order of the Commission.

Todd A. Stevenson,
Secretary, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
[FR Doc. E8-9265 Filed 4-28-08; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6355-01-M