Vinocur v. Ace Bayou Corp.

Citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur’s allegations against defendant Ace Bayou Corp. (Ace Bayou”) were resolved on October 23, 2013, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Vinocur alleged that Ace Bayou sold padded upholstered furniture including gaming chairs with foam padding containing the flame retardants tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and/or tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”)  in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Ace Bayou agreed not to sell any chairs or other furniture in California after March 31, 2014, unless the products contain no more than 25 parts per million of TDCPP and TCEP  when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, Ace Bayou agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by October 15, 2013, and instruct them to provide products that comply expeditiously.  Products currently existing in Ace Bayou’s inventory may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Ace Bayou provide written certification that all products sold in California after November 1, 2013 qualify as reformulated, Vinocur agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine.  Additionally, Vinocur provided a credit for extending the breadth of reformulation, among other credits available, if Ace Bayou should provide written certification that all products sold in California after March 15, 2014, contain no detectable amounts of tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) in addition to satisfying the TCEP and TDCPP requirements.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $138,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Vinocur and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.