Safety last.
President Trump on Thursday announced he will appoint a lawyer with a history of defending companies accused of unsafe and unethical business practices to lead the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The White House said Trump intends to nominate Dana Baiocco, a Boston-based partner at the international Jones Day law firm, to a seven-year term as the consumer agency’s next commissioner.
According to her Jones Day page, Baiocco has been involved in numerous high-profile cases where she defended major companies against accusations of selling faulty or dangerous products. She is also part of a legal team that helps companies in “recall or crisis situations,” the page says.
She helped represent the toy company Mattel in a series of federal, state and foreign lawsuits tied to voluntarily recalled toys. She successfully defended Yamaha against safety claims about its Rhino side-by-side vehicle and she defended GE in a nationwide class action lawsuit alleging discrimination against women in executive roles.
Baiocco is also the go-to lawyer for the Boston Red Sox, the site says, and she defended the team’s parent company in a 2015 lawsuit from a fan who said she was struck by a foul ball.
Baiocco did not immediately return messages from the Daily News.
If approved by the Senate, Baiocco would lead an agency intended to protect consumers from unsafe and risky products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission sets the safety standards for consumer goods and oversees the issuing of recalls.
Baiocco appears to join the list of Trump nominees who built careers doing the exact opposite of what their federal government role will entail.
Trump picked Scott Pruitt, a global warming denier who sued the EPA at least 14 times as Oklahoma’s attorney general, to lead the EPA. Trump’s U.S. Education Secretary pick, Betsy DeVos, was a charter school philanthropist with no prior experience in public education.
In August, Trump nominated Sam Clovis, a right-wing radio host who has never worked as a scientist, to be the chief scientist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Clovis’ nomination has come under fire since CNN exposed his history of racially charged and homophobic remarks, including his contention that homosexuality is a choice and that it could lead to pedophilia being legalized.
