Held v. Franco Manufacturing Co., Inc.

The Honorable Stephen Kaus of the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment on January 22, 2014, that resolved the enforcement action brought by citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E.  In this case, Held alleged that defendant Franco Manufacturing Co., Inc. (“Franco”) sold pillows with vinyl components and vinyl placemats containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  The parties entered an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on March 10, 2010.  At Franco’s request pursuant to Section 5.1 of the Settlement Agreement, Held filed a complaint in this action naming Franco as a defendant.

As part of the agreement, Franco agreed not to manufacture any pillows with vinyl components or vinyl placemats in California after March 1, 2010, unless the pillows and placemats contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.   

The original out-of-court Settlement Agreement required settlement payments of $30,000, 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.   Additionally, Franco shall compensate Held and his counsel for their reasonable fees and costs incurred in filing the complaint and seeking judicial approval of this Consent Judgment incorporating the terms of the Settlement Agreement.