Held v. Dennis East International, LLC

Posted: 12/16/2014  browse the case archive

On December 16, 2014, the parties executed an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved the allegations that whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D, P.E., made against settling party Dennis East International, LLC (“Dennis East”).  In this matter, Held alleged that Dennis East sold vinyl/PVC eyewear containers 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, Dennis East agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC eyewear containers in California after March 1, 2015, unless the containers contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Eyewear containers currently existing in inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Dennis East provide written certification by April 15, 2015, that all vinyl/PVC eyewear containers sold in California qualify as reformulated, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $37,500, 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.  

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