Vinocur v. Valvoline, Inc. et al.

On December 20, 2018, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling parties Valvoline Inc. and Valvoline LLC (collectively, “Valvoline”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Vinocur had alleged that Valvoline sold vinyl tubing 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, Valvoline agreed not to sell any vinyl tubing in California after January 2, 2019, unless the tubing contains 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 $21,800, 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.