Moorberg v. Mann & Bros., Inc.

On November 17, 2015, citizen enforcer Mark Moorberg and settling party Mann & Bros., Inc. (“Mann & Bros”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Moorberg had alleged that Mann & Bros sold vinyl/PVC toiletry bags 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, Mann & Bros agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC toiletry bags in California after October 215, 2015, unless the bags contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $16,000, 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.