The U.S. Department of Justice released a message on its official website that Gree, a Chinese company, has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to delay prosecution.According to the terms of the agreement, Gree Zhuhai and Gree Hong Kong agreed to accept a total fine of US$91 million (approximately RMB 580 million), and agreed to pay any uncompensated victims of the fire caused by the company’s defective dehumidifier Provide compensation.
This agreement of up to 91 million US dollars originated from a model produced by Gree ElectricDehumidificationDue to quality problems, users in some parts of the United States broke out in the process of using them, causing some property losses and personal injuries.
Gree’s dehumidifier products have been turbulent in the US market. As early as 2013, Gree dehumidifier encountered a US$150 million lawsuit in California. The plaintiff alleged that Gree’s dehumidifiers sold through distributors could easily cause fires. The accusation also alleges that Gree not only denied that these dehumidifiers sold in the United States are dangerous, but also retaliated after the dealer reported the problem to the US government.
That is, since 2013, Gree has initiated two dehumidifier recalls. In the first recall in September 2013, the “problem” dehumidifiers involved 12 brands, and the number of recalls was about 2.25 million units. In the expanded recall in January 2014, the number of dehumidifiers involving the GE brand was approximately 350,000 units.
The dehumidifiers involved in the recall were sold in stores in the U.S. and Canada and on Amazon and Ebay websites from January 2005 to August 2013. They involved Gree, Danby, De’Longhi, Fedders (Fedders), Fellini, Frigidaire, GE, Kenmore, Norpole, Premiere, Seabreeze, SoleusAir and SuperClima 13 brands, but the manufacturers are all Gree Electric.
In addition, another Chinese appliance giantbeautifulThe dehumidifier was also recalled in the United States before. These products were sold in North America from January 2003 to December 2013, of which the number of recalls involved in the United States was approximately 3.4 million units and that in Canada was approximately 850,000 units.
The industry generally believes that Gree Electric’s willingness to settle in advance this time should be based on an assessment of the outcome of the lawsuit, or that the liability for compensation is likely to be greater than the penalty amount this time.
Some people in the legal profession have also analyzed that for Chinese companies to file a lawsuit in the United States, both attorney fees and time and energy costs are quite expensive. Therefore, most Chinese companies prefer to choose settlement in the face of facts like this, even if they need to pay less. Small price.