Leeman v. Annie International

On August 4, citizen enforcer Dr. Whitney R. Leeman and settling party Annie International, Inc. (“Annie”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Leeman had alleged that Annie sold hair brushes with vinyl/PVC grips 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, Annie agreed not to sell any hair brushes with vinyl/PVC grips in California after September 1, 2015, unless the brushes contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies, or bear a Proposition 65 warning pursuant to section 2.2 of the agreement.  Should Annie provide Leeman with written certification by September 30, 2015 that all hair brushes with vinyl/PVC grips sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Leeman agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $38,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Leeman and her counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.