Held v. Ethical Products, Inc.

Posted: 06/03/2014  browse the case archive

The parties involved in the case Held v. Ethical Products, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on June 3, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E., alleged that Ethical Products, Inc. (“Ethical Products”) sold pet carriers with vinyl/PVC components containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Ethical Products agreed not to sell any pet carriers with vinyl/PVC components in California after June 4, 2014, unless the pet carriers contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Pet carriers already existing in inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Additionally, Ethical Products agreed to notify its vendors of the reformulation standards by June 4, 2014, and instruct them to provide pet carriers that comply expeditiously.  Should Ethical Products provide written certification that all pet carriers qualify as reformulated by June 4, 2014, and continuing into the future, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $50,000, 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.   

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