Lumber Liquidators fights report of safety violations

A “60 Minutes” report about flooring manufacturer and retailer Lumber Liquidators has sent the company into crisis mode.

The report quotes activists and homeowners who assert that Lumber Liquidators’ laminate flooring, made in China, contains unsafe levels of formaldehyde, which has been linked to cancer. They backed up that assertion with tests conducted in verified labs.

It also quotes an environmental pediatrics doctor who says exposure to the levels of formaldehyde found in the flooring “would increase the risk for chronic respiratory irritation, change in a person’s lung function, increased risk of asthma.”

Tom Sullivan, founder and chairman of the chain, was also interviewed in the “60 Minutes” piece, contending the tests weren’t accurate and were the work of “a group of lawyers who are suing us, selling short on our stock.”