Vinocur v. Mattel, Inc.

On July 18, 2016, citizen enforcer Laurence Vinocur and settling party Mattel, Inc. (“Mattel”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Vinocur had alleged that Mattel sold vinyl/PVC headphone wraps 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, Mattel agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC headphone wraps in California after July 18, 2016, unless the wraps contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”), di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”), diisodecyl phthalate (“DIDP”), diisononyl phthalate (“DINP”), and di-n-hexyl phthalate (“DnHP”) in any accessible components when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Existing inventory shall be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $20,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Vinocur and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.