NEW YORK (AP) — Amazon has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), disputing the agency’s finding that the e-commerce giant is legally responsible for recalls of numerous products sold on its website.
The CPSC, an independent federal agency, issued an order in January requiring Amazon to take specific actions. These included notifying customers who purchased over 400,000 recalled items and providing refunds to those who could prove the products were properly disposed of or destroyed.
The CPSC’s order followed a unanimous determination last summer that Amazon acted as a “distributor” of faulty items sold on its platform by third-party sellers and shipped through Amazon’s fulfillment service. However, Amazon has long contested this classification.
In its lawsuit, filed on March 14, the company maintains that it operates as a “third-party logistics provider” and, therefore, should not be held liable for recalls of products made, owned, and sold by other entities.
The CPSC had previously sued Amazon in 2021 for allegedly distributing hazardous items. The agency accused the company of endangering consumer safety by failing to adequately notify the public about recalled products, including defective carbon monoxide detectors and flammable children’s pajamas. Amazon countered in its lawsuit that it had already issued recall notices and provided some refunds shortly after the CPSC raised safety concerns several years prior.
Furthermore, the company argues that the commission is an “unconstitutionally structured agency” that exceeded its authority with the new directive. “The remedies ordered by the CPSC are largely duplicative of the steps we took several years ago to protect customers, which are the same steps we take whenever we learn about unsafe products,” Amazon stated in a statement provided to The Associated Press. The Seattle-based company declined to comment further on the lawsuit.
Amazon, along with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, has also initiated lawsuits challenging the structure of the National Labor Relations Board on constitutional grounds. These cases arose after the labor agency filed complaints against the companies concerning disputes related to workers’ rights and union organizing.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission declined to comment on Amazon’s lawsuit when contacted on Wednesday. In a statement from January 17 about the hazardous products order, Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. emphasized that it was the CPSC’s responsibility to “hold companies like Amazon accountable,” adding, “no company is above the law.
