Vinocur v. Abbott Rubber Company, Inc.

On July 22, 2016, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party Abbott Rubber Company, Inc. (“Abbott”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Vinocur had alleged that Abbott sold vinyl/PVC hoses 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, Abbott agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC hoses in California after July 22, 2016, unless the hoses contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $23,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Vinocur and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.