Vinocur v. Factories Connection, Inc.

The parties involved in the case Vinocur v. Factories Connection, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on April 30, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur alleged that Factories Connection, Inc. (“Factories Connection”) sold back scratchers with vinyl/PVC grips or other 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 agreement, Factories Connection agreed not to sell any back scratchers with vinyl/PVC grips in California after the Marin County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the microphones contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided pursuant to section 2.3 of the agreement.  Should Factories Connection provide written certification to Vinocur that all back scratchers with vinyl/PVC grips sold in California after August 1, 2015 meet the reformulation standards to be virtually free of DEHP, Vinocur has agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $62,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Vinocur and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.