Leeman v. The Earthly Way, Inc.

On May 6, 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 The Earthly Way, Inc. (“Earthly Way”).  In this matter, Leeman alleged that Earthly Way sold vinyl/PVC gloves 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, Earthly Way agreed not to sell any gloves in California unless the gloves contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”), and butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”) in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Earthly Way shall provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by June 5, 2014, and instruct them to provide products that comply expeditiously.  Should Earthly Way provide written certification that all gloves sold in California comply with the reformulation standards by November 15, 2014, Leeman agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $34,500, 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.