Vinocur v. Tarte, Inc.

Posted: 07/20/2015  browse the case archive

On July 20, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party Tarte, Inc. (“Tarte”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Vinocur had alleged that Tarte sold vinyl/PVC cosmetic cases 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, Tarte agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC cosmetic cases in California after December 31, 2015, unless the cases 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.  Should Tarte provide Vinocur with written certification by October 15, 2015 that all vinyl/PVC cosmetics cases 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 $41,500, 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.

Download PDF

It appears your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.