TJX to pay $13 million for selling recalled products

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. — Framingham-based TJX Companies has agreed to pay $13 million for selling previously recalled products.

The civil penalty stems from a settlement that acknowledges the company offered for sale and distributed about 1,200 recalled products from 21 separate voluntary corrective actions between March 2014 and October 2019, the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced Tuesday.

“At TJX, product safety is very important to us and we prohibit the sale of recalled items in our stores,” a spokesperson for TJX said. “We deeply regret that in some instances between 2014 and 2019, recalled products were not properly removed from our sales floors despite the recall processes that we had in place. We have made a significant investment in people, processes, and technology to strengthen our processes, and have cooperated fully with the Consumer Product Safety Commission.”

Under federal law, the sale of a consumer product that is subject to voluntary corrective action, such as a recall, is prohibited.

The majority of sales were products recalled due to the risk of infant suffocation and death, including the Kids II Rocking Sleepers, Fisher-Price Rock ‘n Play Sleepers, and Fisher-Price Inclined Sleeper Accessory for Ultra-Lite Day & Night Play Yards, the Commission said.

These products were sold, offered for sale and distributed at TJX retail stores, including T.J. Maxx, Marshalls, Homegoods and online.

“These sales were illegal and put hazardous products into the hands and homes of unsuspecting consumers,” Alexander Hoehn-Saric, Commission chair, said in a statement. “Hundreds of inclined sleepers that pose a suffocation risk to infants, as well as a wide range of other products that present choking hazards, laceration hazards, and fire risks, were sold after their recall date, in violation of federal law.”

In addition to the penalty, TJX has agreed to maintain an internal system of controls to ensure compliance with the Consumer Product Safety Act.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW

©2022 Cox Media Group