Vinocur v. First Act, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur’s allegations against defendant First Act, Inc. (“First Act”) were resolved on October 3, 2013, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Vinocur alleged that First Act sold padded upholstered drum seats with foam padding containing 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, First Act agreed not to sell any drum seats in California after March 31, 2014, unless the seats  contain no more than 25 parts per million each of TDCPP and TCEP  when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, First Act agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by October 15, 2013, and instruct them to provide seats that comply expeditiously.  Seats currently existing in First Act’s inventory may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should First Act provide written certification that all seats 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 withdrawal, among other credits available, if First Act should provide written certification that all unreformulated exemplar products sold in California have been withdrawn from the market by December 15, 2013.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $134,000, 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.