Vinocur v. Fourstar Group USA Inc.

In the enforcement action Vinocur v. Fourstar Group USA Inc., citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur’s allegations against defendant Fourstar Group USA Inc. (“Fourstar”) were resolved on March 3, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Vinocur alleged that Fourstar sold padded upholstered chairs with foam padding containing the flame retardants tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) and 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, Fourstar agreed not to sell any chairs in California after June 30, 2014, unless the chairs contain no detectable amount of TCEP and TDCPP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Fourstar agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by March 1, 2014, and instruct them to provide chairs that comply expeditiously.  Chairs currently existing in Fourstar’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Fourstar provide written certification that all chairs sold in California after April 1, 2014 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 Fourstar should provide written certification that all chairs sold in California after June 30, 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 $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.