Leeman v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc.

On August 20, 2014, whistleblower Whitney Leeman, Ph.D., and settling party CVS Pharmacy, Inc. (“CVS”) executed an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved the allegations that Leeman made against CVS.  In this matter, Leeman alleged that CVS sold vinyl/PVC luggage tags 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, CVS agreed not to sell any luggage tags in California unless the tags contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should CVS provide written certification that all luggage tags sold in California comply with the reformulation standards by November 1, 2014, Leeman agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $27,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Leeman and her counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.