Held v. Callaway Golf Company

The parties involved in the case Held v. Callaway Golf Company executed a Consent Judgment on December 16, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D, P.E., alleged that Callaway Golf Company (“Callaway”) sold vinyl/PVC golf club covers 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 agreement, Callaway agreed not to sell the specific vinyl/PVC golf club covers identified in the Consent Judgment in California after December 15, 2014, unless the covers contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Callaway provide written certification that the covered vinyl/PVC golf club covers sold in California qualify as reformulated by July 1, 2015, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $43,000, 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.