NFIB: Buckyballs’ Lawsuit Highlights Small Businesses Need for Legal Protection
www.NFIB.com
For Immediate Release
Kelly Hoffman 202-314-2054 or [email protected]
NFIB: Buckyballs’ Lawsuit Highlights Small Businesses Need for Legal Protection
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 13, 2014 — Karen Harned, Executive Director of NFIB’s Small Business Legal Center, released the following statement in response to the former CEO of Buckyballs agreeing to pay $375,000 to recall the product as part of a settlement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission, ending a legal dispute that started last summer. NFIB had previously filed a motion in support of the entrepreneur’s lawsuit against the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).
“There’s a bold line between regulatory enforcement and regulatory abuse, and in this case the federal government crossed it without ever slowing down. The law does not allow regulatory agencies to punish private individuals, yet the CPSC pursued this case. Small businesses already must constantly navigate through evolving regulatory requirements every day, the last thing they need is to be worried about losing important legal protection and having to pay settlements to avoid litigation. While we are disappointed that the CPSC pursued this case we hope that this settlement does not encourage regulatory agencies to attack small business owners in the future.”
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The NFIB Small Business Legal Center is a 501(c)(3) organization created to protect the rights of America’s small business owners by providing advisory material on legal issues and by ensuring that the voice of small business is heard in the nation’s courts. The National Federation of Independent Business is the nation’s leading small business association, with offices in Washington, D.C. and all 50 state capitals.