Virginia Beach Souvenir Shop Reaches Settlement Over Sweatshirt Recall | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

A Virginia Beach, VA-based chain of souvenir stores has been ordered to pay $60,000 to settle allegations that it was too slow to take a dangerous product off its shelves. Sunsations, Inc. is known allong the Virginia Beach Oceanfront 

According to the Virginian-Pilot, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commissions announced that Sunsations sold sweatshirts for children with drawstrings through the hoods that posed strangulation and choking hazards. The sweatshirts were initially on shelves between March 2008 and November 2010. The commission claims Sunsations never reported the sale of those products.

Federal law states that companies must immediately report defects that could cause serious injury or death. In December 2009 and March 2011, Sunsations announced a voluntary recall of the 15,000 sweatshirts sold in Virginia Beach, the Outer Banks in North Carolina and Ocean City, Maryland. The settlement claims that Sunsations denied “knowlingly violating the law.”

Product recalls, particularly those that involve products or stores we all use or frequent, are always unsettling. We expect businesses to look out for their customers’ safety, but, unfortunately, unsafe items can slip onto the market. While it’s good that Sunsations finally took the sweatshirts off their shelves, one has to wonder what took the company so long to announce the recall for the product. In souvenir shops by the beach, no one expects great quality in the items they purchase, but people should at least be able to expect they’re buying safe products.

CD