The CPSC just dropped its first civil settlement of 2026: $14.15 million against The Clorox Company. The CPSC alleges that Clorox microbiologists issued an internal report in early 2019 documenting bacterial contamination in storage tanks and finished Pine Sol product, which they described as “possibly a Pseudomonad" bacteria. 

CPSC states that while Clorox took internal steps to mitigate the potential for bacterial contamination, it did not report the issue to CPSC until September 2022, more than 3 1/2 years later.  The recall ultimately involved a massive 37 million units of Pine Sol. There were no injuries or incidents reported at the time of the recall. 

Civil penalties are hisotically rare in cases without injuries, deaths, or fires but this case demonstrates that they are possible. 

One key takeaway of this penalty annoncement is that taking internal steps to address a potential safety issue - while not reporting those changes contemporaneously to the CPSC - can be viewed by the CPSC as a "knowing" failure to self report the issue to the government, as required by law. Failure to report in a timely fashion to the CPSC risks expensive and time-consuming investigations, costly civil penalties and, in very rare cases, even criminal penalties. 

CPSC's longstanding caution of "When in doubt, report" seems to hold as true today as when it was first written, nearly 50 years ago. When you simply aren't certain about next steps, reach out to your counsel as early as possible so that your company receives sound legal advice at the earliest possible opportunity to make the best decision possible for it, given the facts involved with your product.

Legal counsel can provide companies with a variety of options depending on the situtation, enabling good and informed decision-making. The attorney client privilege allows us the opportunity to provide your company with an open and frank assessment of your company's potential legal obligations and risks, all while keeping the conversation confidential to provide you with legal advice.

​If you would like to read the full text of the CPSC settlement, please click here.

The original recall is here.