Held v. Easter Unlimited, Inc.

On May 29, 2009, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling defendant Easter Unlimited, Inc. (“Easter Unlimited”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held’s allegations that Easter Unlimited sold soft vinyl balls containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

Easter Unlimited represented that it had discontinued selling children’s soft vinyl balls in the United States in 2005. As part of the settlement, however, Easter Unlimited agreed that should it resume selling the soft vinyl balls in California, the balls would contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $17,800, 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.