But this story isn't about me. It's about Burlington Coat Factory and its recent settlement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, or CPSC. You see, the CPSC claims that as far back as 2003 Burlington knew that it was selling sweatshirts and jackets that had drawstrings around their necks despite the fact that the US clothing industry had adopted a no-drawstrings policy back in 1997. And not only did Burlington continue to sell kids' clothes with drawstrings, the store did it even after the CPSC itself stepped in and deemed any kid's clothing item with a neck drawstring "defective" and dangerous.
Last week the CPSC announced that it had successfully sued the store for knowingly selling drawstring garments (or at least keeping them in its inventory) as recently as 2012--years after drawstrings were formally outlawed by federal law.
As part of the settlement Burlington does not have to admit that it knew what it was doing was illegal. In fact, it formally denies the allegation. But it will have to pony up $1.5 million on top of all the refunds it has already been forced to refund over the years to parents and grandparents who bought jackets and sweatshirts with neck drawstrings in them.
You can see a list of recalled drawstring jackets and sweatshirts sold at Burlington Coat Factory stores here. The earliest recall goes back to 2007; the most recent was issued in 2010.
