Moore v. MerchSource, LLC

On December 14, 2017, citizen enforcer John Moore and settling party MerchSource, LLC (“MerchSource”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Moore had alleged that MerchSource sold vinyl/PVC faux leather material 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, MerchSource agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC faux leather material in California after December 14, 2017, unless the faux leather material contains less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $20,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Moore and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.