Held v. Euro Style, Inc.

Whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party Euro Style, Inc. (“Euro Style”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on July 24, 2014, which resolved Held’s allegations that Euro Style sold upholstered stools with foam padding containing the flame retardant tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and chairs with vinyl/PVC upholstery 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, Euro Style agreed not to sell any stools or chairs in California after September 30, 2014, unless the products meet the reformulation standards outlined in Section 2.6 of the Agreement when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Euro Style agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by June 10, 2014, and instruct them to provide products that comply with these standards expeditiously.  Should Euro Style provide written certification that by September 1, 2014, and continuing into the future, all Products sold in California have been reformulated, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.  An additional portion of the final civil penalty shall be waived should Euro Style provide written certification that the Products contain no detectable amount of another flame retardant, tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”).

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $49,000, 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.