Vinocur v. InMusic Brands, Inc. et al.

Citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling parties InMusic Brands, Inc., Numark International, Inc., and Numark Industries, LLC (collectively, “InMusic”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement on July 17, 2015.  Vinocur had alleged that InMusic 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, InMusic agreed not to sell any headphones with vinyl/PVC components in California after July 17, 2015, 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”) in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Products that do not meet the above reformulation standards must be accompanied by a Proposition 65 warning pursuant to section 2.2 of the agreement.  Should InMusic 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 $54,900, 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.