Held v. The Coleman Company, Inc.

On April 8, 2009, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling defendant The Coleman Company, Inc. ("Coleman") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that Coleman sold children's inflatable vinyl toys 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, Coleman agreed not to sell any children’s inflatable vinyl toys in California after April 8, 2009, unless the toys contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, butyl benzyl phthalate, and di-n-butyl phthalate when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $32,500, 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.