On December 23, 2022, I predicted in a post that the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) would step up criminal enforcement of the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) in 2023. To be fair, my prediction was based upon the CPSC's public statements about its intention to evaluate violations of the Act for potential referral to the Department of Justice for prosecution. True to its word, last month a federal jury in Los Angeles convicted two corporate executives of a dehumidifier manufacturer of criminal violations of the CPSA.

The defective dehumidifiers were manufactured abroad and marketed (and later recalled) under a number of brand names. Misrepresentations made by the executives caused the recall to be delayed for months, resulting in numerous additional incidents and injuries.  Internal communications showed the company continued to sell the dehumidifiers to avoid business losses, notwithstanding their knowledge that the products were defective. Furthermore, the company falsified safety certifications and mislead consumers into thinking these products were safe when they were not. All of this information was actively hidden from the CPSC by the corporate executives.

This is a real-life example proving the maxim that “the cover up can be worse than the crime.” While the underlying dehumidifier recall was bad enough – there were more than 2,000 reported incidents, 450 reported fires, and four deaths – the company's failure to timely report to the CPSC and its corporate executives' subsequent cover up made matters much worse. Sadly, I predict that in 2024, we will see more cases like this one and the trend toward more prosecutions under the CPSA will continue.