Vinocur v. Central Garden & Pet Company

On July 19, 2019, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party Central Garden & Pet Company (“Central Garden”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Vinocur had alleged that Central Garden sold gloves with vinyl components 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, Central Garden agreed not to sell any gloves with vinyl components in California after July 19, 2019, unless the products 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 $10,000, 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.