Wozniak v. Harbor Freight Tools USA, Inc., et al.

The parties involved in the case Wozniak v. Harbor Freight Tools USA, Inc., et al. executed a Consent Judgment on April 26, 2016.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Paul Wozniak alleged that Harbor Freight Tools USA, Inc. and Central Purchasing, LLC (“Defendants”) sold certain products 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 agreement, Defendants agreed not to sell these products in California after the Alameda County Superior Court enters the Judgment, unless the products contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $51,000, 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.