Vinocur v. First Texas Products, LLC

On August 11, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party First Texas Products, LLC (“First Texas”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Vinocur had alleged that First Texas sold headphones with vinyl/PVC 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, First Texas agreed not to sell any headphones with vinyl/PVC components in California after January 1, 2016, unless the headphones contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”), butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”), and diisononyl phthalate (“DINP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  All existing inventory shall be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should First Texas accelerate reformulation and provide Vinocur with written certification by November 1, 2015 that all headphones with vinyl/PVC components sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Vinocur agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $40,000, 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.