On March 30 this year, members of the North Carolina House of Representatives introduced House Bill 542. This bill will cut off access to the courts for North Carolina citizens injured by products subject to government regulation. This includes defective tires, bad drugs, bad medical devices including pacemakers and hip implants, and toys containing lead or poison. No other state has such powerfully anti-consumer law.
North Carolina does not need this anti-consumer law. North Carolina is already the third best state in the country in which to do business! This law will not create any new jobs, and it will impair the rights of North Carolina businesses as much as those of citizens.
This law will cost the state government money at a time when our budget is already stretched thin. Our Attorney General's office has had substantial success pursuing products cases against various manufacturers, bringing the state hundreds of millions of dollars. The state might never have gotten much of this money if a law like this had been in place.
This law will take away the legal rights of North Carolina citizens and businesses against manufacturers of defective products. If you or your business suffers property damage or you are injured or killed due to a defective product made in a foreign country, you and your business will have no legal recourse against the manufacturer.
It is not too late to stop this bill. Find out who represents you using the North Carolina General Assembly website and call to tell your elected representatives, particularly your Representatives in the State House, that you OPPOSE HOUSE BILL 542 and you want them to oppose it too. If you live in Rowan County like us, your Representatives are Fred Steen and Harry Warren and your State Senator is Andrew Brock.
The names and contact information of the primary sponsors of the bill are also available on the North Carolina General Assembly website.
To read the bill for yourself, click here. It contains several other anti-consumer provisions, including a new tax.
