Wozniak v. Herman Pearl Company

The parties involved in the case Wozniak v. Herman Pearl Company executed a Consent Judgment on January 6, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Paul Wozniak alleged that Herman Pearl Company (“Herman Pearl”) sold vinyl/PVC aprons 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, Herman Pearl agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC aprons in California after the Santa Clara County Court approves the Judgment, unless the aprons contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Herman Pearl provide written certification that all vinyl/PVC aprons sold in California qualify as reformulated by December 15, 2014, Wozniak agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $38,000, 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.