Vinocur v. Essential Medical Supply, Inc.

The parties executed a Consent Judgment in Vinocur v. Essential Medical Supply, Inc., on October 2, 2013, which resolved citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur’s allegations that the defendant Essential Medical Supply, Inc. (“EMS”) sold seat cushions with foam cushioned components 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 settlement, EMS agreed not to sell any seat cushions with foam cushioned components in California after March 31, 2014, unless the cushions contain no more than 25 parts per million of TDCPP or tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TECP”) in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Cushions currently existing in EMS’s inventory may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Additionally, by October 15, 2013, EMS agreed to notify its vendors of the reformulation standards and instruct them to provide cushions that comply.  Should EMS provide written certification that it has expanded the reformulation standard to include tris(2-3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) as of March 31, 2014, Vinocur agreed to credit a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $88,000, 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.