Held v. Global Design Concepts, Inc.

On  February 6, 2012, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling defendant Global Design Concepts, Inc. ("Global"), entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that Global sold women's handbags 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, Global agreed not to sell any handbags in California after February 3, 2012, unless the handbags contain less than 0.1 percent (1,000 parts per million) of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Due to Global's commitment to comply with these heightened standards, Held agreed to credit a portion of the civil penalties that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $19,000, 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.