Held et al. v. Amway Corp.

The Honorable Roy O. Chernus of the Marin County Superior Court granted the parties’ motion to approve the Consent Judgment in the case Held et al. v. Alticor, Inc., et al., on March 7, 2012.  This enforcement action resolved citizen enforcers John Moore and Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.’s allegations that eighteen defendants sold products containing phthalate chemicals, including the defendant Amway Corp. (“Amway”), that allegedly sold jewelry travel cases containing the phthalate chemicals di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”), di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”) and butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Amway agreed not to sell any jewelry travel cases in California after December 15, 2011, unless the cases contain no more than 1,000 parts per million (0.1%) of DEHP, DBP, and BBP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Amway agreed to provide the reformulation standards to its vendors by January 15, 2012, and instruct them to provide cases that comply with the reformulation standards expeditiously.  As a de minimus defendant, Amway paid a substantially reduced fine.  However, because Amici was the subject of an existing complaint regarding violations of Proposition 65, it was responsible for paying an additional charge.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $38,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblowers Moore and Held and their counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.