Buyer Beware - Texas Legislature Has Gutted Consumer Protections

In the wake of the recent flood of defective and poisoned Chincese products being sold in the US, I was reading a few comments in local papers about consumers experiences with them. What I found in Houston was pretty disturbing. A lawyer wrote to the Chronicle regarding a client who had come to him seeking redress for a defective toy.

It seems this toy pinched the finger of her child and it was amputated as a reslt. The pinching hazard is something that is a recognized problem and is regulated here in the US. The toy was branded by a US company and sold in a US store. The problem was hat the toy was manufactured in China. Here in the Great State of Texas, our legislature, a governing body hat is completely in the pocket of corporate lobbyists, passed a law back in 2003 (H.B.4) that limits liability for sellers and companies here in Texas. In his letter Randal Roberts explains.

“Unfortunately, the toy set was manufactured in China. I had to explain to this mother that in the name of protecting the "innocent retailer," the Texas Legislature in 2003 granted immunity to every business that had profited from the sale of this unsafe product, except for the shop somewhere in China that actually made this toy set. Sellers, even the largest national retailers, distributors, wholesalers and importers, have no liability for the harm caused by the products they sell in Texas. They cannot be held accountable, so long as they can identify the "responsible" manufacturer in court.”

Under the disguise of helping to protect “mom and Pop” stores, the real agenda funded by national retailers protects the deep pockets of Wal-Marts and others. Once again proving that our laws and our lawmakers are employees of big business and not public servants. It’s time to change that.