Wozniak v. Alex Orthopedic, Inc.

On May 26, 2017, citizen enforcer Paul Wozniak and settling party Alex Orthopedic, Inc. (“Alex Orthopedic”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Wozniak had alleged that Alex Orthopedic sold wrist splints with vinyl/PVC components 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, Alex Orthopedic agreed not to sell any wrist splints with vinyl/PVC components in California after May 30, 2017, unless the wrist splints contain 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 $20,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Wozniak and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.