Vinocur v. Harman International Industries

The parties involved in the case Vinocur v. Harman International Industries executed a Consent Judgment on September 11, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur alleged that Harman International Industries (“Harman”) sold headsets with vinyl/PVC headphone pouches 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, Harman agreed not to sell any headsets with vinyl/PVC headphone pouches in California after January 11, 2016, unless the pouches contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $45,000, 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.