Held v. Belkin International, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party Belkin International, Inc. (“Belkin”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement on May 27, 2015.  Held had alleged that Belkin sold vinyl/PVC coated cables used with security locks 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, Belkin agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC coated cables used with security locks in California after May 15, 2015, unless the cables contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or bear a Proposition 65 warning pursuant to section 2.2 of the agreement.  Should Belkin provide Held with written certification by August 1, 2015 that all vinyl/PVC coated cables used with security locks sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $18,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.