Held v. The ERGO Baby Carrier, Inc.

Whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party The ERGO Baby Carrier, Inc. (“ErgoBaby”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on June 5, 2014, which resolved Held’s allegations that ErgoBaby sold upholstered bassinets containing the flame retardant tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, ErgoBaby agreed not to sell any upholstered bassinets in California after June 6, 2014, unless the bassinets contain no detectable amount of TDCPP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, ErgoBaby agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by July 6, 2014, and instruct them to provide bassinets that comply with these standards expeditiously.  Should ErgoBaby provide written certification that by June 20, 2014, and continuing into the future, all bassinets 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 $30,000, 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.