Held v. GB Tools & Supplies, LLC

Whistleblower Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party GB Tools & Supplies, LLC (“GB Tools”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on March 10, 2014, which resolved Held’s allegations that GB Tools sold wiring tools with vinyl/PVC grips 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, GB Tools agreed not to sell the specific wiring tools identified in the Settlement Agreement in California after March 11, 2014, unless the tools contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should GB Tools provide written certification that by May 1, 2014, and continuing into the future, all tools sold in California qualify as reformulated or have been withdrawn from California markets, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $37,000, 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.