Held v. Fishman and Tobin LLC

On July 18, 2011, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E., and settling defendant Fishman and Tobin LLC ("Fishman"), entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that Fishman sold footwear containing excessive amounts of 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, Fishman agreed not to sell any footwear in California after July 10, 2011, unless the footwear contains less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in each accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $21,500, 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.