Held v. Best Buy Stores, L.P.

On November 19, 2014, the parties executed an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved the allegations that whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D, P.E. (“Held”) made against settling party Best Buy Stores, L.P. (“Best Buy”).  In this matter, Held alleged that Best Buy sold pliers with vinyl/PVC grips 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, Best Buy agreed not to sell any pliers with vinyl/PVC grips in California after December 1, 2014, unless the pliers contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $29,500, 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.