Held v. Hollywood Fashion Tape, Inc.

Whistleblower Anthony Held, Ph.D, P.E. and settling party Hollywood Fashion Tape, Inc. (“Hollywood”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement on July 6, 2015.  Held had alleged that Hollywood sold vinyl/PVC toiletry bags 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, Hollywood agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC toiletry bags in California after July 6, 2015, unless the bags contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”), butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”), or diisononyl phthalate (“DINP”) in each accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Hollywood shall also provide its vendors with the above reformulation standard and instruct them to provide products that comply expeditiously.  Should Hollywood provide Held with written certification by July 15, 2015 that all vinyl/PVC toiletry bags sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $29,000, 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.