Held v. The Haddad Apparel Group, Ltd.; et al.

On October 14, 2009, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. The Haddad Apparel Group, Ltd.; et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant The Haddad Apparel Group, Ltd. ("Haddad") sold children's jackets containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP") in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As a part of the settlement, Haddad agreed that if it re-introduces the children's jackets for sale in California, the jackets will contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. The reformulation requirement does not apply to any jackets manufactured by Haddad prior to July 31, 2009.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $24,000, to be 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.