Held v. Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation, et al.

On July 8, 2010, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation, et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant, Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse Corporation ("Burlington"), sold certain products identified in the Consent Judgment containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP") and the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Burlington agreed not to sell any children's vinyl bags in California after May 15, 2010, unless the bags contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP and 100 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $56,000, to be 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.