Wozniak v. National Presto Industries, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Paul Wozniak and settling party National Presto Industries, Inc. (“National Presto”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on April 29, 2014, which resolved Wozniak’s allegations that National Presto sold tongs 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, National Presto agreed not to sell any tongs in California after May 1, 2014, unless the tongs meet the reformulation requirements outlined in Section 2.1 of the Consent Judgment or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should National Presto provide written certification by December 1, 2014, and continuing into the future, that all tongs 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 $41,000, 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.