Held v. Golden Delta Enterprises, Inc. and Pleaser USA, Inc.

Whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. resolved his allegations against the defendants Golden Delta Enterprises, Inc. (“Golden Delta”) and Pleaser USA, Inc. (“Pleaser”) in the case Held v. Golden Delta Enterprises, Inc.; Pleaser USA, Inc., et al., when the parties executed a Consent Judgment on March 18, 2013.  In this enforcement action, Held alleged that Golden Delta and Pleaser sold Halloween costume accessories that contain the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Golden Delta and Pleaser agreed not to sell any Halloween costume accessories in California after March 15, 2013, unless the accessories comply with the reformulation standards when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  As Golden Delta and Pleaser provided written certification that all Halloween accessories sold in California qualify as reformulated, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Consent Judgment requires a total settlement payment 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 citizen enforcer Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.