Leeman v C.R. Laurence Co., Inc.

Posted: 06/10/2015  browse the case archive

On June 10, 2015, Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D and settling party C.R. Laurence Co., Inc. (“C.R. Laurence”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement on June 10, 2015.  Leeman had alleged that C.R. Laurence sold vinyl/PVC battery booster cables 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, C.R. Laurence agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC battery booster cables in California after June 10, 2015, unless the products 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 2.1 of the agreement.  Should C.R. Laurence provide Leeman with written certification by July 15, 2015 that all vinyl/PVC battery booster cables 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 $20,500, 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.  

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