On October 14, 2011, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that a civil penalty of $1.1 million was settled against Henry Gordy International, Inc. This comes as result of the company’s failure to report a known safety defect and hazard with their “Auto Fire Target Set” to the CPSC. The hazard came from the soft, pliable, plastic darts that came within each kit. According to the CPSC, three children’s deaths have resulted from this product.
In May 2010, after Henry Gordy refused to issue a recall, the CPSC and Family Dollar Stores (the only store that sold the product) issued their own recall. As KID reported before, under the current CPSC rules, Henry Gordy was under no obligation to issue a recall of their product.
According to the CPSC, around May of 2006, Henry Gordy allegedly knew of the hazard that their product posed to children. In May 2009, the CPSC staff states that Henry Gordy allegedly, “made a material misrepresentation to the staff in the course of the staff’s investigation.” By agreeing to the settlement of $1.1 million, Henry Gordy can deny the allegations that their product had a defect or that it knowingly violated the law.
