Vinocur v. Walgreen Co.

Posted: 02/19/2014  browse the case archive

On February 19, 2014, the parties involved in the enforcement action Vinocur v. Celebration Creations, Inc., et al., executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur alleged that the defendant Walgreen Co. (“Walgreen”) sold children’s sport-themed baskets containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Walgreen agreed not to sell any children’s baskets in California after the San Francisco County Superior Court approves the Consent Judgment, unless the baskets contain no more than 100 parts per million of lead in any accessible part when analyzed using state and federally approved testing methodologies.  Lead baskets already existing in inventory may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Walgreen provide written certification that all baskets sold in California after July 16, 2014, and continuing into the future, qualify as reformulated, Vinocur agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $38,750, 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. 

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