HP to Pay Penalty for Not Immediately Reporting Overheating Battery Packs

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has agreed to pay a $425,000 civil penalty for failing to immediately report to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) that their lithium-ion battery packs posed a burn hazard to consumers.

Defective products pose a serious danger to consumers. If you or a loved one has been injured by one of HP’s lithium-ion battery packs you may be able to recover compensation with the help of an experienced West Palm Beach product liability attorney.

The CPSC alleges that by September 2007, Hewlett-Packard knew about 22 incidents where their battery packs had overheated; in two of these incidents, consumers were injured. Even though Hewlett-Packard allegedly knew about the safety issues with their battery packs they failed to report them to the CPSC. Between March 2007 and April 2007, HP conducted a study on their battery packs. Yet, the CPSC alleges that HP did not tell them about the study or the battery packs overheating until July 2008. By that time HP allegedly knew about 31 incidents of the battery packs overheating.

HP and the CPSC recalled 32,000 lithium-ion battery packs in October 2008. The notebook computers that HP sold contained the defective battery packs. The battery packs were also sold separately at numerous stores and online retailers.

Federal law requires that all manufacturers, distributors, and retailers report to the CPSC within 24 hours after obtaining information about products that are defective or hazardous to the consumer. By agreeing to the settlement, HP denies the CSPCs allegations. Contact the West Palm Beach personal injury attorneys at Gordon & Partners today for a free and confidential case evaluation.