Vinocur v. Yamaha Corporation of America

The parties involved in the case Vinocur v. Yamaha Corporation of America executed a Consent Judgment on March 19, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur alleged that Yamaha Corporation of America (“Yamaha”) sold benches with vinyl/PVC seats containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Yamaha agreed not to sell any benches with vinyl/PVC seats in California after September 19, 2015, unless the seats contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Yamaha has also agreed to provide written notice with the above reformulation standards to its vendors and instruct them to provide products that comply expeditiously.  Should Yamaha provide written certification that all benches with vinyl/PVC seats sold in California qualify as reformulated by November 1, 2015, Vinocur agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $59,000, 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.