Moorberg v. W.J. Deutsch & Sons Ltd.

Citizen enforcer Mark Moorberg and settling party W.J. Deutsch & Sons Ltd. ( “WJD”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement on October 24, 2015.  Moorberg had alleged that WJD 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, WJD agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC cases in California after March 30, 2016, unless the cases contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in each component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should WJD accelerate reformulation and provide Moorberg with written certification by January 1, 2016 that all vinyl/PVC cases 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 $36,000, 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.