Moore v. Dorman Products, Inc.

On August 17, 2015 citizen enforcer John Moore and settling party Dorman Products, Inc. (“Dorman”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Moore had alleged that Dorman sold hardware accessories and hand tools containing the heavy metal lead and 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, Dorman agreed not to sell any hardware accessories and hand tools in California after August 21, 2015, unless the accessories and hand tools contain less than 1,000 parts per million (“ppm”) of DEHP and less than 90 ppm of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Any accessories or hand tools that do not comply with the above reformulation requirements shall be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Dorman accelerate reformulation and provide Moore with written certification by February 15, 2016 that all hardware accessories and hand tools sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Moore agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $38,800, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Moore and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.