Held v. Block and Company, Inc.; MMF Industries

On November 16, 2011, the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Block and Company, Inc.; MMF Industries, which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendants, Block and Company, Inc. and MMF Industries ("Block and MMF"), sold wallets 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, Block and MMF agreed not to import or manufacture any wallets after December 31, 2011, unless the wallets contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in each accessible component when analyzed using state and federally used testing methodolgies.

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 whistleblower Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.