Vinocur v. Guidecraft, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur’s allegations against settling party Guidecraft, Inc. (“Guidecraft”) were resolved on December 16, 2014, when the parties entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement.  In this matter, Vinocur alleged that Guidecraft sold upholstered chairs with foam padding containing the flame retardant tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and chairs with vinyl/PVC upholstery 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 settlement, Guidecraft agreed not to sell any chairs in California after December 15, 2014, unless the chairs contain no detectable amount of TDCPP and no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Chairs currently existing in Guidecraft’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Guidecraft provide written certification by December 31, 2014 that all chairs sold in California qualify as reformulated, Vinocur agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $41,500, 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.