A federal judge has granted a default judgment and a permanent injunction ordering Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Brooklyn Sleep Products Inc. and company President Francisco Chavez to stop manufacturing, importing, renovating and selling mattresses until they provide evidence that the company’s mattresses comply with federal flammability laws.
Additionally, U.S. District Judge Roslynn R. Mauskopf of the Eastern District of New York ordered Brooklyn Sleep Products and Chavez to recall all mattresses, mattress sets or mattress pads sold to consumers that failed federal flammability tests. If the company fails to comply with the judge’s order, it can face fines of $1,000 per day.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission filed suit against Brooklyn Sleep Products and Chavez after discovering that the company was selling mattresses that did not comply with federal flammability standards. The firm committed violations even after it had been preliminarily enjoined from selling mattresses in violation of federal standards, the CPSC said in announcing the judge’s decision on Nov. 10.
“The judgment is a victory for the safety of consumers and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission,” the CPSC said in a new release. Chavez could not be reached for comment.
According to the CPSC, it conducted inspections and collected mattress samples at Brooklyn Sleep Products’ headquarters facility and at retail stores selling the company’s mattresses in Fall River, Mass., and Providence, R.I., in 2008. The CPSC also collected a noncompliant mattress made by Brooklyn Sleep Products at a Newark, N.J., store in 2010. The mattresses failed open-flame tests conducted by the CPSC, the agency said.
“Chavez admitted to CPSC inspectors that neither he nor Brooklyn Sleep Products tested their mattresses and mattress sets as required by law,” according to the news release. “Chavez failed to respond to numerous court filings against him.”
In September 2008, January 2009 and again in March 2010, the CPSC requested that Brooklyn Sleep Products stop selling and distributing mattresses that failed to comply with federal laws.
“But the firm continued to manufacture, renovate, sell, offer for sale and introduce into commerce mattresses in violation of the federal mattress flammability requirements, putting consumers at risk,” the CPSC said.
Mattresses and mattress sets sold in the United States are required to comply with federal mattress flammability requirements, 16 CFR Part 1632 (the cigarette-ignition standard) and 16 CFR Part 1633 (the open-flame standard).
