The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced that Hewlett-Packard (HP) has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $425,000. The settlement agreement has been provisionally accepted by the Commission.
The settlement resolves staff allegations that HP knowingly failed to report immediately to CPSC, as required by federal law, that certain lithium-ion battery packs contained a defect or created an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death. The lithium-ion battery packs can overheat, posing a fire and burn hazard to consumers. The packs were shipped with new HP Notebook computers, sold as accessories or provided as spare parts for various HP models.