Vinocur v. Staples, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur’s allegations against defendant Staples, Inc. (“Staples”) were resolved on January 6, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Vinocur alleged that Staples sold padded upholstered seat/back cushions 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, Staples agreed not to sell any seat/back cushions in California after April 30, 2014, unless the cushions contain no more than 25 parts per million of TDCPP and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, Staples agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by January 15, 2014, and instruct them to provide cushions that comply expeditiously.  Cushions currently existing in Staples’s inventory may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Staples provide written certification that all cushions sold in California after January 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 Staples should provide written certification that all cushions sold in California after April 15, 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 $134,500, 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.