Amazon has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) after the agency held the company responsible for recalls of hundreds of thousands of products sold through its platform.
In January, the CPSC directed Amazon to notify customers who purchased more than 400,000 recalled items and offer refunds to those who could prove the products had been properly disposed of or destroyed.
The order came after the commission’s decision last summer, where it ruled that Amazon was a “distributor” of defective products sold by third-party sellers and shipped through Amazon’s fulfillment service.
Amazon has consistently argued that it should not be considered a “distributor” of these products, as it views itself merely as a “third-party logistics provider.” The company maintains that it should not be held accountable for recalls of products made, owned, and sold by other entities.
In 2021, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) sued Amazon, accusing the company of distributing hazardous products and putting consumer safety at risk. The lawsuit claimed that Amazon failed to properly notify the public about recalled items, including faulty carbon monoxide detectors and flammable children’s pajamas.
In its lawsuit, Amazon stated that it had already issued recall notices and some refunds after the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) raised safety concerns years ago. The company argues that the CPSC is an “unconstitutionally structured agency” and has overstepped its authority with the recent order.
Amazon claims that the actions required by the CPSC are mostly repetitive of measures the company had already taken to protect customers, which it consistently follows when learning about unsafe products. The Seattle-based company added that it could not comment further on the lawsuit it filed last week.
Both Amazon and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are currently involved in active lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of the National Labor Relations Board’s structure. These lawsuits were initiated after the labor agency filed complaints against the companies regarding workers’ rights and union organizing disputes.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) declined to comment on Amazon’s lawsuit. However, in a statement issued on January 17 regarding the order on hazardous products, Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. emphasized that the CPSC’s role is to “hold companies like Amazon accountable” and that “no company is above the law.”