Amazon sues U.S. safety commission over recall responsibilities [Video]

NEW YORK — Amazon has sued the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission for finding the e-commerce giant legally responsible for the recalls of hundreds of thousands of products sold on its site.

The independent federal agency ordered Amazon in January to take several actions, including notifying customers who bought more than 400,000 items covered by recalls and giving refunds to those who could prove the products were properly disposed of or destroyed.

The order followed the commission’s unanimous determination last summer that Amazon was a “distributor” of faulty items sold on its website by third-party sellers and shipped through the company’s fulfillment service

But Amazon has long disputed it qualifies as a “distributor” of products offered by other sellers. In its lawsuit filed on March 14, the company …