Leeman v. Budge Industries LLC

On July 30, 2014, the parties executed an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved the allegations that whistleblower Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D., made against settling party Budge Industries LLC (“Budge”).  In this matter, Leeman alleged that Budge sold vinyl/PVC coated car cover cables containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) and spare tire covers containing DEHP and the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Budge agreed not to sell any covered products in California after July 31, 2014, unless the products contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP and no more than 100 parts per million of lead content in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Budge provide written certification that all products qualify as reformulated by August 31, 2014, Leeman agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $28,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Leeman and her counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.