Vinocur v. Zak Designs, Inc.

On March 13, 2017, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party Zak Designs, Inc. (“Zak”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Vinocur had alleged that Zak sold mugs with exterior designs containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Zak agreed not to sell any mugs with exterior designs in California after June 13, 2017, unless the designs contain less than 90 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $23,500, 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.