Sacramento, CA – The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Western States Council released the following statements after the Assembly Judiciary Committee passed AB 3262 by Assemblymember Mark Stone (D-Scotts Valley). The legislation will level the playing field on consumer safety for online marketplaces like Amazon. The megaretailer owned by the world’s richest man has seen their highest growth in three years due to the pandemic, but is currently not held to same strict product liability standard as the corner brick and mortar store, facing no repercussions from placing dangerous products in the stream of commerce.
“The world’s largest online retailer with more than half of the market should not be able to shift the costs of easily preventable injuries to its customers when even the smallest California brick and mortar business competitors would be liable under long standing consumer protection law,” said Jim Araby, director of strategic campaigns, UFCW Local 5. “The COVID-19 crisis has spiked online sales of goods, but that comes with an increase in consumer risk – something most consumers don’t know when they click ‘buy now’ on Amazon.com. UFCW members applaud the Assembly Judiciary Committee for holding Amazon to the same standards as other businesses.”
“We trusted that since we were buying [a hoverboard] on Amazon that it was safe because it is a reputable company,” said Dave Carpenter, a victim of Amazon’s lax product liability who testified in support of the bill. “I want to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else. I simply ask that Amazon be liable for defective products they sell on their website.”
The bill now goes to the Assembly floor for a vote by the full Assembly.
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Contact: Jenna Thompson, 949.246.1620, [email protected]