Held v. Four Seasons General Merchandise, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party Four Seasons General Merchandise, Inc. (“Four Seasons”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on February 3, 2014, which resolved Held’s allegations that Four Seasons sold bowls with exterior designs containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Four Seasons agreed not to sell any bowls with exterior designs in California after January 31, 2014, unless the bowls meet the reformulation requirements outlined in Section 2.2 of the Consent Judgment.  Should Four Seasons provide written certification that by March 15, 2014, and continuing into the future, all bowls 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 $48,000, 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.