Held et al. v. Marc Fisher, LLC et al.

Posted: 03/07/2012  browse the case archive

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 Marc Fisher LLC and its releasees Fisher Design LLC, Fisher Licensing LLC, Fisher Sigerson Morrison LLC, M.B. Fisher LLC, Marc Fisher Holdings LLC, Marc Fisher Jr Brand LLC, MBF Holdings LLC (Wyoming), MBF Licensing LLC, and Unisa Fisher Wholesale LLC  (collectively “Marc Fisher”), which allegedly sold footwear 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, Marc Fisher agreed not to sell any footwear in California after December 15, 2011, unless the footwear contains 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, Marc Fisher agreed to provide the reformulation standards to its vendors by January 15, 2012, and instruct them to provide footwear that complies with the reformulation standards expeditiously.  Because Marc Fisher agreed to reformulate its products to eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings, Moore and Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $81,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, the waived civil fine, and compensation to whistleblowers Moore and Held and their counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.

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