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Non-Tech : The ENRON Scandal -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (4401)	9/2/2002 10:56:30 PM
From: Mephisto	Respond to of 5185

GE to Pay $1 Million Product Defect Fine Thursday August 8, 12:58 pm ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE - News) has agreed to pay $1 million to settle charges that it was late reporting defects in certain dishwashers, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said on Thursday. The watchdog agency alleged that since 1992, GE knew of electrical problems on six models of its dishwashers made in the 1980s that led the energy-saver slide switches of the machines to overheat. "This settlement puts companies on notice that they must notify CPSC without delay when they learn of product hazards or consumer injuries," CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton said in a statement. "We intend to enforce these requirements vigorously and there will be serious consequences for companies that fail to report such information quickly," Stratton added. The Consumer Product Safety Act requires manufacturers, importers, distributors and retailers to immediately report information about potentially hazardous products to the CPSC. While agreeing to pay the fine, GE denied having knowingly violated the law. The CPSC said that between January 1992 and November 1998, GE, a world leader in household appliances, received 49 reports of fires that involved melted switches. By the time it reported the problem in late 1998, the company was allegedly aware of 111 incidents that involved fire, smoke or melting on the dishwashers switches. More than 3 million of the six dishwasher styles were manufactured between 1983 and 1989. GE recalled the GSD500D, GSD500G, GSD540, HDA467, HDA477, and HDA478 models in 1999. Consumers can get more information by calling GE at (800) 599-2929 or on the Internet at www.geappliancerecall.com. biz.yahoo.com