Burlington County Factory to Pay $1.5 Million Fine

Burlington Coat Factory will pay $1.5 million to settle government allegations stemming from the sale of children's clothing with drawstrings.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the civil penalty resolves allegations that the New Jersey-based company failed to report immediately that it had sold children's sweatshirts and jackets with drawstrings at the neck. It also settles charges that Burlington knowingly sold or had in store inventories of many of these clothes after they had been recalled.

The fine is the biggest civil penalty CPSC has assessed for violations involving children's upper outerwear with drawstrings.

Burlington denies that it knowingly violated the law. CPSC passed a rule last year designating most drawstrings in children's upper outerwear as hazardous. Before that, the industry had voluntary standards warning about drawstring dangers.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)