Federal officials have filed a lawsuit against Stanley Black & Decker over allegations that the tool maker failed to promptly report potential safety hazards from its utility bars and miter saws.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the “civil enforcement action” late last month.
According to the announcement, Stanley Black & Decker began manufacturing a utility bar in late 2015 and, shortly thereafter, started receiving complaints that the bars had broken unexpectedly, including “snapping back” at users and causing “serious injuries” in some instances. The company, however, allegedly did not notify the CPSC about the problem until the spring of 2019.
The agencies further alleged that Stanley received “hundreds” of complaints related to the rear protective guards and plastic deflectors on miter saws between 2019 and 2022 — which could break and resulted in injuries such as “lacerations to consumers’ faces and fingers” — but did not report them to the CPSC until mid-2022.
Federal law, the agencies said, requires manufacturers, distributors and retailers to report defects to the CPSC “immediately.” The complaint seeks unspecified “monetary civil penalties," along with injunctive relief to "prohibit the company from engaging in future violations” of the Consumer Product Safety Act.
Stanley Black & Decker has not commented on the filing.
