Law360 Quotes Partner Christie Grymes Thompson on Consumer Product Safety Commission Database Reports

Partner Christie Grymes Thompson was quoted in the Law360 article ​“4th Circ. Chills Challenges To Sham CPSC Database Reports.” The article discusses the recent Fourth Circuit ruling regarding a company’s right to stop the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) from falsely disparaging its products on the Saferproducts​.gov database. The court found that an unnamed company should not have been allowed to litigate its case against the CPSC under a pseudonym and under seal.

The decision is a blow to companies who want to keep misleading Saferproducts​.gov reports from being published. As Ms. Thompson explained, ​“The whole purpose of the appeal process ... is to give companies an opportunity to object to the commission staff’s assessment at the outset. If a lawsuit then discloses the very information that the company was trying to protect, what’s the point?”