Vinocur v. OfficeMax Incorporated

Citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur’s allegations against defendant OfficeMax Incorporated (“OfficeMax”) were resolved on December 23, 2013, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Vinocur alleged that OfficeMax sold upholstered chairs with foam padding containing the flame retardant 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, OfficeMax agreed not to sell any chairs in California after May 31, 2014, unless the chairs contain no detectable amount of TDCPP and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, OfficeMax agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by January 31, 2014, and instruct them to provide chairs that comply expeditiously.  Chairs currently existing in OfficeMax’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should OfficeMax provide written certification that all chairs sold in California after April 15, 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 OfficeMax should provide written certification that all chairs sold in California after May 31, 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 $136,000, 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.