Leeman, et al. v. Tractor Supply Company, et al.

The parties involved in the case Leeman, et al. v. Tractor Supply Company, et al. executed a Consent Judgment on March 16, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcers Whitney R. Leeman, Paul Wozniak, and Laurence Vinocur (collectively, “Plaintiffs”) alleged that Tractor Supply Company, Larin Corp., Plasticolor Molded Products, Inc., and Taylor Brands, LLC (collectively, “Defendants”) sold tools, tape measures, and spring clamps with vinyl/PVC grips or other components containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) and upholstered stools with foam padding containing tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Defendants agreed not to sell any Covered Products in California after the Alameda County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the products contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies, no more than 25 parts per million of TDCPP in foam padding, or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Defendants provide written certification that all Covered Products sold in California qualify as reformulated by May 1, 2015, Plaintiffs agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $66,600, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to the whistleblowers and their counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.