Leeman v. Trademark Games, Inc.

The parties involved in the case Leeman v. Trademark Games, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on October 14, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Dr. Whitney Leeman alleged that Trademark Games, Inc. (“Trademark Games”) sold stools with vinyl/PVC upholstery containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Trademark Games agreed not to sell any stools with vinyl/PVC upholstery in California after November 30, 2014, unless the stools contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Stools currently existing in inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Trademark Games provide written certification that all stools sold in California qualify as reformulated by January 15, 2015, Leeman agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $49,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Leeman and her counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.