Moore v. Benson Mills, Inc., Benson Sales Co., Inc., and Kohl's Corporation

Citizen enforcer John Moore’s allegations against the defendants Benson Mills, Inc. and Benson Sales Co., Inc. (collectively “Benson”) and Kohl’s Corporation (“Kohl’s”) were resolved on July 26, 2013, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment in Moore v. Benson, et al.  In this enforcement action, Moore alleged that Benson and Kohl’s sold vinyl placemats and/or table linens 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, Kohl’s agreed not to sell the specific vinyl placemat identified in the Consent Judgment and Benson agreed not to sell any table linens in California after the Santa Clara Court approves the Consent Judgment, unless the products contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP.  After July 31, 2014, and continuing thereafter, Kohl’s shall not manufacture any vinyl placemats in California unless they qualify as reformulated.  Should Benson and Kohl’s provide written certification that they have met their respective reformulation requirements by July 15, 2014, Moore agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $150,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Moore and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.