Moore v. Pan Am Railways, Inc.

In the enforcement action Moore v. Pan Am Railways, Inc., the parties executed a Consent Judgment on March 19, 2013, which resolved citizen enforcer John Moore’s allegations that the defendant Pan Am Railways, Inc. (“Pan Am”) sold passport covers, luggage tags, and bags 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, Pan Am agreed not to sell any passport covers, luggage tags, or bags in California after the court approves the Consent Judgment, unless the products contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Pan Am comply by these heightened standards by May 1, 2013, Moore agreed to credit a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $147,000, 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.