Moorberg v. Gator Cases Incorporated

On December 5, 2014, the parties executed an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved the allegations that whistleblower Mark Moorberg made against settling party Gator Cases Incorporated (“Gator”).  In this matter, Moorberg alleged that Gator sold keyboard benches with vinyl/PVC upholstery 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, Gator agreed not to sell any keyboard benches with vinyl/PVC upholstery in California after December 30, 2014, unless the benches contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or Proposition 65 warnings are provided.  Should Gator provide written certification by June 1, 2015, that all keyboard benches with vinyl/PVC upholstery qualify as reformulated, Moorberg agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $32,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Moorberg and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.