Wozniak v. The Haddad Apparel Group, Ltd.

On August 29, 2019, citizen enforcer Paul Wozniak and settling party The Haddad Apparel Group, Ltd. (“Haddad”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Wozniak had alleged that Haddad sold lunch bags with vinyl zipper pulls 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, Haddad agreed not to sell any lunch bags with vinyl zipper pulls in California after August 30, 2019, unless the products contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies OR have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $15,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Wozniak and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.