Brimer v. Naftali, Inc.

On March 10, 2016, citizen enforcer Russell Brimer and settling party Naftali, Inc. (“Naftali”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Brimer had alleged that Naftali sold luggage tags with vinyl/PVC straps, vinyl/PVC luggage finder straps, vinyl/PVC pouches, vinyl/PVC cords, and vinyl/PVC earbud cords 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, Naftali agreed not to sell any of the above products in California after March 4, 2016, unless the products contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Naftali provide Brimer with written certification by December 15, 2016 that all covered products sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Brimer agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $50,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Brimer and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.