Moorberg v. PADI Worldwide Corp.

On April 4, 2016, citizen enforcer Mark Moorberg and settling party PADI Worldwide Corp. (“PADI”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Moorberg had alleged that PADI sold vinyl/PVC cases for sport diving training materials 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, PADI agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC cases for sport diving training materials in California after April 1, 2016, unless the cases contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies OR have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should PADI provide Moorberg with written certification by June 1, 2016 that all vinyl/PVC cases for sport diving training materials sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Moorberg agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $41,250, 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.