Wozniak v. Messermeister, Inc.

On May 25, 2016, the parties involved in the case Wozniak v. Messermeister, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Paul Wozniak alleged that Messermeister, Inc. (“Messermeister”) sold nylon cooking utensils containing the chemical 4,4’-methylenedianiline (“4,4’-MDA”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Messermeister agreed not to sell any nylon cooking utensils in California after the Santa Clara County Superior Court enters the Judgment, unless the utensils, when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies, contain no more than 200 parts per million of 4,4’-MDA by weight or produce a leach result of 10 ug/L or less of 4,4’-MDA. 

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $26,000, 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.