Maker of drawstring sweatshirt involved in child's death fined $100,000

Consumer Reports News: September 08, 2009 05:13 PM

Four companies have agreed to pay more than $600,000 in penalties for manufacturing or selling clothing with drawstrings at the neck. One of the companies, Hill Sportswear, was the maker of a sweatshirt in which a 3-year-old California boy was strangled when the drawstring became stuck on a slide last year. Hill has agreed to pay a $100,000 civil penalty.

Kohl's department store is paying the largest penalty, $425,000, for selling clothing with drawstrings and two New Jersey firms— Maran and K.S. Trading— were fined a combined $85,000 for similar offenses. All of the clothing has been recalled.

Hill Sportswear: 120,000 hooded sweatshirts
Kohl's: 40,000 Seattle Cotton Works hooded sweatshirts
Maran: 6,000 Squeeze Kids girl's corduroy jackets
K.S. Trading: 5,740 Raw Blue Sportswear hooded sweatshirts

The CPSC issued drawstring guidelines in 1996 to help prevent children from strangling or getting entangled on the neck and waist drawstrings in upper outerwear, such as jackets and sweatshirts. In 1997, the industry adopted a voluntary standard for drawstrings that incorporated the CPSC guidelines. In May 2006, the CPSC's Office of Compliance announced that children's upper outerwear with drawstrings at the hood or neck would be regarded as defective and as presenting a substantial risk of injury to young children.

This is the second time that Kohl's has run afoul of the guidelines. Last year, Kohl's paid a $35,000 civil penalty for failing to report drawstrings in children's sweatshirts leading to the recall of 4,500 Candie's brand sweatshirts.

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Maker of drawstring sweatshirt involved in child's death fined $100,000

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