Held v. The Hilsinger Company

On January 3, 2012, the Marin County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. The Hilsinger Company, which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant The Hilsinger Company ("Hilsinger") sold cases and bags for eyewear products and accessories 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, Hilsinger agreed not to sell any cases/bags for lens wipes in California after January 3, 2012, unless such cases/bags contain less than .1% of DEHP in each accessible component when analyzed pursuant state and federally approved testing methodologies. Hilsinger also agreed to place Proposition 65 warnings on the covered products it did not reformulate.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $45,000, 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.