Vinocur v. Poof-Alex Holdings, et al.

On April 4, 2019, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling parties Poof-Alex Holdings, LLC and Panline USA, Inc. (wholly owned subsidiaries of Alex Brands, and collectively “Alex Brands”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Vinocur had alleged that Alex Brands sold vinyl pen 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 settlement, Alex Brands agreed not to sell any vinyl pen pouches in California after April 1, 2019, unless the pouches contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies, OR have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $20,000, 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.