John Paul Mitchell Settlement 2002
John Paul Mitchell, JPL International and Wizmet International
During the months of June and July 1999, Enforcement Division staff, acting on a tip, conducted inspections at Sacramento area Factory 2-U stores. John Paul Mitchell (JPM) haircare products were found being offered for sale at these stores. JPM manufactures several formulas of their most popular brands of hairspray. One of the formulas is a California-compliant product, and the others are formulated at percentages, which exceed California's state standard of 55 percent Volatile Organic Compound content limit.
In this case, JPM manufactured non-California formula hairspray and shipped it to Canada, to be packaged by JPL International (a Canadian packaging company), for sale outside of California. After this product had been packaged by JPL, John Paul Mitchell and JPL terminated their business relationship. Wizmet International, a Canadian Distributor, purchased the stock that JPL had on hand and sold it to Factory 2-U for a "one time buy." JPL International furnished a "certificate of authenticity" guaranteeing Wizmet that the product they purchased was genuine Paul Mitchell product, but not that the product was California-compliant. JPM did not authorize the sale of the product and were, in fact, unaware that the sale had been made until they were contacted by Enforcement Division staff. A settlement in the amount of $6,000 was reached with Factory 2-U on February 18, 2002. No further action was taken against John Paul Mitchell, Wizmet or JPL International in this case.