Minoxbeard’s facial care company pays up to $1 million for breach

Posted November 19, 2018 05:00:00 A Queensland company that provides face and body care services for children has been fined more than $1.6 million after it failed to tell children they had been exposed to salmonella and other potentially dangerous bacteria.

The company, Minoxbes Facial Care, was a distributor of cosmetic salons in Queensland until 2013, when it moved to its current location in Brisbane, where it has now been shut down.

The Federal Court in Queensland’s Central Coast district was told in the order that the company had not informed customers that their children’s skin was contaminated with salmonellosis and salmonele-contaminated food.

A spokesperson for Minoxkes said it was “very sorry” for the impact it had had on its customers and would work to ensure it did not happen again.

“It is a terrible situation for our customers and the broader community, and we sincerely apologise for any distress and inconvenience this has caused,” the company said in a statement.

In court documents, a lawyer for the company, Michael Nieper, said the breach was “unprecedented in its magnitude” and that the failure to inform customers about the contamination was “reprehensible”.

Mr Niepper told the court that Minoxzbeards Facialcare was “not the type of company that is going to take the risk of losing a customer” and the failure of the company to properly inform customers was “highly negligent”.

He said the failure by Minoxzes to tell customers the risk posed by the salmonevalence in the children’s faces was “a huge problem” for children.

Mr Truscott said the breaches amounted to a breach of the Fair Trading Act, which required the company “to provide information to customers about any potential risks associated with the sale of their products, to the extent that this information may reasonably be expected to be used to protect against the risk to customers”.

The Federal Court ordered Minoxzinges to pay a $1,300 fine and also pay $750 to the Federal Government for not disclosing to its customers the potential risk of salmonello contamination.

Ms Mabel Trussell, representing Minoxis Facial, said Minoxzerts breach was the biggest in its history.

She said the company did not have a plan to address the breach, nor did it have a process in place to ensure customers knew of the risk.

Under the Fair Trade Act, the Federal Court can order that Minozzes Facial not sell cosmetic salves to people under 18, but the Federal Magistrates Court will decide if MinoxZes Facial should be required to pay the fine.

Minoxzbes Facials website, where the company advertised its salons, stated it would not sell facial masks, “unless there is a medical need”.

A statement from the company stated: “We will not sell any facial products unless the child’s medical condition requires the product”.

Minozbes Faciances website states it has no “medical need” for any facial masks.

It is not clear whether the breach has affected any of Minoxges clients.

Topics:scottish-federal-and-state-issues,business-economics-and/or-finance,scotland-4350,australia,brisbane-4000,qld,canberra-2600,belconnen-4850More stories from Queensland