Held v. All Access Apparel, Inc.

The parties involved in the case Held v. All Access Apparel, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on July 30, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E., alleged that All Access Apparel, Inc. (“All Access”) sold belts and headphones with vinyl/PVC wires, both containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, All Access agreed not to sell any belts or headphones with vinyl/PVC wires in California after June 4, 2014, unless the belts and headphones contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should All Access provide written certification that all belts and headphones sold in California qualify as reformulated by December 15, 2014, and continuing into the future, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $42,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.