Vinocur v. Wild Sales, LLC

Whistleblower Laurence Vinocur resolved his allegations against the defendant Wild Sales, LLC (“Wild Sales”) in the case Vinocur v. Jesper Office, LLC when the parties executed a Consent Judgment on May 29, 2014.  In this enforcement action, Vinocur alleged that Wild Sales sold padded upholstered chairs 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, Wild Sales agreed not to sell any chairs in California after June 17, 2014, unless the chairs contain no detectable amount of TDCPP or tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing.  Chairs already existing in inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Wild Sales agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by June 2, 2014, and instruct them to provide chairs that comply expeditiously.  Should Wild Sales provide written certification that its chairs are reformulated by June 17, 2014, 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 Wild Sales should provide written certification that all chairs sold in California after August 17, 2014, contain no detectable amounts of tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) in addition to satisfying the TDCPP and TCEP requirement.

The Consent Judgment requires a total settlement payment 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 citizen enforcer Vinocur and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.