Wolters Kluwer Certifies That Its Notebooks are DEHP-Free
The Chanler Group has received certification, required by the settlement agreement with TCG client Russell Brimer, that Wolters Kluwer’s vinyl and PVC notebooks offered for sale in California have been reformulated to contain less than 0.1% of DEHP. As a result, the final civil penalty of $15,000, which Wolters Kluwer agreed to in the settlement, will be waived. The penalty waiver provision of the settlement provided an incentive for Wolters Kluwer to promptly reformulate their products to be free of DEHP. DEHP is a toxic phthalate chemical known to the State of California to cause reproductive harm.
Wolters Kluwer is a multinational company providing information, software, and services to the legal, tax, finance, and health industries, with over 19,000 employees serving customers in 150 countries. Russell Brimer found that Wolters Kluwer notebooks contained DEHP but did not provide the required health hazard warning, and served Wolters Kluwer with a 60-Day Notice of Violation on August 16, 2012. Wolters Kluwer entered into a settlement agreement on March 7, 2013, for a total of $57,000 in penalties and attorneys’ fees, $15,000 of which would be waived if a certification of reformulation were provided by August 1, 2013.
The Chanler Group frequently includes such “reformulation incentives” in its settlements as part of the firm’s work in effectuating change for a cleaner environment and safer consumer products.
The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.