Buckyballs creator to fund trust for recall of the magnetic toys
Image released by the CPSC.
The man who created Buckyballs has reached a settlement with the Consumer Product Safety Commission to fund a recall of the magnetic desk toys.
Craig Zucker will put $375,000 into a recall trust controlled by the CPSC that will give refunds to consumers who return Buckyballs and Buckycubes, report the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, Inc. and a press release. The commission has said it is trying to protect teens and children who swallow the magnets, which can pull together in the intestines and cause a perforation.
The CPSC had sought a recall in a July 2012 administrative complaint against Zucker’s company, Maxfield & Oberton Holdings. After the company dissolved in December 2012, the CPSC amended its complaint to add Zucker as an individual defendant.
Cause of Action, a conservative legal group helping Zucker, noted the gap between the $375,000 that Zucker will pay and the $57 million estimated cost of the recall by the CPSC.
Zucker had claimed he was sued in retaliation for criticizing the CPSC. “The law does not support an individual being named in a case like this,” Zucker said in a statement provided to the Washington Post. “I hope that this settlement will discourage the CPSC from wrongfully pursuing individual officers and entrepreneurs again in the future.”
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Dangerous desk toy Buckyballs voluntarily recalled by retailers”
ABA Journal: “Should this toy be saved?”
ABAJournal.com: “In Unusual Move, Consumer Agency Sues to Bar Sales of Buckyballs”
