Vinocur v. Ultimate Survival Technologies, Inc.

The parties involved in the case Vinocur v. Ultimate Survival Technologies, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on June 10, 2016.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur alleged that Ultimate Survival Technologies, Inc. (“Ultimate”) sold vinyl/PVC lantern handles 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, Ultimate agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC lantern handles in California after the Marin County Superior Court enters the Judgment, unless the handles contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Ultimate provide Vinocur with certification by January 15, 2017 that all vinyl/PVC lantern handles sold in California qualify as reformulated by the above standards, Vinocur has agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $52,000, 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.