Leeman v. Modern Marketing Concepts, Inc.

On June 9, 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 Modern Marketing Concepts, Inc. (“Modern Marketing”).  In this matter, Leeman alleged that Modern Marketing sold vinyl/PVC cases 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, Modern Marketing agreed not to sell any cases in California unless the cases contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Modern Marketing provide written certification that all cases sold in California comply with the reformulation standards by September 15, 2014, Leeman agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $23,500, 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.