Vinocur v. AS America, Inc.

On May 1, 2017, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party AS America, Inc. (“AS America”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Vinocur had alleged that AS America 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, AS America agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC hoses in California after April 26, 2017, unless the hoses contain 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 $19,500, 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.