Whalen Furniture to Pay $725,000 Civil Penalty for Failing to Report Defective Children’s Beds

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced Wednesday that Whalen Furniture Manufacturing Inc, a division of Bayside Furnishings in San Diego, CA, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $725,000 for failing to report defective children’s beds as required by federal law. In November 2007, Whalen learned that a 22-month-old boy from Roseville, CA, had died after the lid of a bed’s toy chest fell on the back of his head. The firm failed to report the death or hazard with its bed to CPSC until March 2008, after being contracted by agency staff and directed to do so.