Held v. Horizon Group USA, Inc.

On September 8, 2009, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E., and settling defendant Horizon Group USA, Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively “Horizon”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held’s allegations that Horizon sold iron-on appliqués 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, Horizon agreed not to manufacture or sell any iron-on appliqués in California after September 8, 2009, unless the iron-on appliqués contain no more than 1,000 parts per million each of DEHP, butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”), and di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $26,750, 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.