Vinocur v. Artsana USA, Inc.

Whistleblower Laurence Vinocur and settling party Artsana USA, Inc. (“Artsana”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on January 23, 2014, which resolved Vinocur’s allegations that Artsana sold upholstered infant carriers containing the flame retardants tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Artsana agreed not to sell any upholstered infant carriers in California after December 24, 2013, unless the infant carriers contain no detectable amount of TDCPP, TCEP and tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Artsana agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by January 17, 2014, and instruct them to provide infant carriers that comply with these standards expeditiously.  Should Artsana provide written certification that by January 17, 2014, and continuing into the future, all Exemplar Products sold in California have been recalled, Vinocur agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $66,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Vinocur and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.