Vornado Agrees to Pay $7.5 Million Civil Penalty for Failure to Immediately Report Space Heaters Posing a Fire Hazard

News provided by

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

Jul 07, 2022, 14:25 ET

WASHINGTON , July 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Vornado Air LLC, of Andover, Kansas, has agreed to pay a $7.5 million civil penalty. The settlement resolves CPSC's charges that Vornado failed to immediately report to CPSC, as required by law, that its VH101 Personal Vortex electric space heater contained a defect or created an unreasonable risk of serious injury.

CPSC charged that Vornado had information that the heater could overheat and catch fire, posing a risk of burn injury or death. Vornado investigated multiple consumer reports of fire, but the firm did not immediately notify CPSC of the defect or risk as required by law. In January 2018, Vornado reported to CPSC that a 90-year-old Minnesota man had died in a fire involving a Vornado space heater that was suspected to be a VH101 heater.

Vornado recalled the VH101 Personal Vortex heater on April 4, 2018. The recall was re-announced on August 22, 2018, after Vornado confirmed that the heater involved in the fatal incident was a VH101.

In 2008, the Vornado Trust paid a $500,000 civil penalty to CPSC on behalf of Vornado's predecessor, Vornado Air Circulation Systems Inc., after it failed to immediately report overheating and fire incidents involving space heaters between 1993 and 2004.

The settlement agreement requires Vornado to maintain a compliance program to ensure that the company complies with the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) and to maintain internal controls designed to ensure timely, complete, and accurate reporting to CPSC. Vornado has also agreed to file annual reports regarding the compliance program and system of internal controls for a period of three years.

The settlement agreement has been accepted provisionally by the Commission by a 4-0-1 vote.

CPSC Chair & Commissioner Statements:

Chair Alex D. Hoehn-Saric statement

Commissioner Richard Trumka statement

Commissioner Peter Feldman statement

About the U.S. CPSC
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products has contributed to a decline in the rate of injuries associated with consumer products over the past 50 years.

Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC.

For lifesaving information:
- Visit CPSC.gov.
- Sign up to receive our e-mail alerts.
- Follow us on Facebook, Instagram @USCPSC and Twitter @USCPSC.
- Report a dangerous product or a product-related injury on www.SaferProducts.gov.
- Call CPSC's Hotline at 800-638-2772 (TTY 301-595-7054).
- Contact a media specialist.

Release Number: 22-182

SOURCE U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission