Vinocur v. Creative Co-op, Inc.

On December 2, 2016, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party Creative Co-op, Inc. (“Creative Co-op”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Vinocur had alleged that Creative Co-op sold glass jars with exterior decorations containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Creative Co-op agreed not to sell any glass jars with exterior decorations in California after December 9, 2016, unless the decorations contain less than 100 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $21,500, 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.