Vinocur v. Penshurst Trading Inc.

On July 24, 2017, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party Penshurst Trading Inc. (“Penshurst”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Vinocur had alleged that Penshurst sold napkin rings containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Penshurst agreed not to sell any napkin rings in California after July 29, 2017, unless the rings 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 $21,000, 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.