Amazon lawsuit challenges CPSC recall order

NEW YORK — Amazon has sued the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for finding the e-commerce giant legally responsible for the recalls of hundreds of thousands of products sold on its site.

The independent federal agency ordered Amazon in January to take several actions, including notifying customers who bought more than 400,000 items covered by recalls and giving refunds to those who could prove the products were properly disposed of or destroyed.

The order followed the commission’s unanimous determination last summer that Amazon was a “distributor” of faulty items sold on its website by third-party sellers and shipped through the company’s fulfillment service

But Amazon has long disputed it qualifies as a “distributor” of products offered by other sellers. In its lawsuit filed on March 14, the company maintained it serves as a “third-party logistics provider” and therefore should not be held liable for recalls of products that were made, owned and sold by others.

The commission sued Amazon in 2021 for allegedly distributing hazardous items, accusing the company of putting consumer safety at risk by failing to properly notify the public about recalled products that included defective carbon monoxide detectors and flammable children’s pajamas.

Amazon said in its lawsuit that it issued previous recall notices and some refunds shortly after the CPSC raised safety concerns several years ago. The company argues the commission is an “unconstitutionally structured agency” that overstepped 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 said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. The Seattle-based company said it could not comment further on its lawsuit filed last week.

Amazon and Elon Musk’s SpaceX also have active lawsuits challenging the structure of the National Labor Relations Board as unconstitutional. The two companies initiated the cases after the labor agency filed complaints against them in disputes about workers’ rights and union organizing.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission declined to comment Wednesday on Amazon’s lawsuit complaint. In a Jan. 17 statement about the hazardous products order, Commissioner Richard L. Trumka Jr. said it was the CPSC’s job to “hold companies like Amazon accountable” and “no company is above the law.”