Held v. Fashion Options, Inc., et al.

On January 19, 2010, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Ascendia Brands, Co., Inc., et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant, Fashion Options, Inc. ("Fashion Options"), sold children's clothing with vinyl zipper pulls 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, Fashion Options agreed not to sell any children's clothing with vinyl zipper pulls in California after November 4, 2009, unless the clothing contains less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or contains Proposition 65 warnings.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $23,000, to be 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.