Vinocur v. Melissa & Doug, LLC

Citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party Melissa & Doug, LLC (“M&D”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement on July 7, 2015.  Vinocur had alleged that M&D sold tent/shelter fabrics containing the flame retardant chemical 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, M&D agreed not to sell any tent/shelter fabrics in California after September 1, 2015, unless the fabrics contain no more than 25 parts per million each of TDCPP, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”), and/or tris(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate (“TDBPP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or bear a Proposition 65 warning pursuant to section 2.2 of the agreement.  Should M&D provide Vinocur with written certification by January 4, 2016 that all tent/shelter fabrics sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Vinocur agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $33,500, 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.