Wozniak v. Dentek Oral Care, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Paul Wozniak and settling party Dentek Oral Care, Inc. (“Dentek”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on September 23, 2014, which resolved Wozniak’s allegations that Dentek sold vinyl/PVC toiletry bags 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, Dentek agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC toiletry bags in California after September 30, 2014, unless the toiletry bags meet the reformulation requirements outlined in Section 2 of the Settlement Agreement.  Should Dentek provide written certification by October 15, 2014, and continuing into the future, that all toiletry bags sold in California qualify as reformulated, Wozniak agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $64,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Wozniak and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.