Held v. Jay Franco and Sons, Inc., et al.

On December 22, 2008, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling defendant Jay Franco and Sons, Inc. ("Jay Franco") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that Jay Franco sold children's vinyl bathroom toys and vinyl pillows 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, Jay Franco agreed not to sell any children's vinyl bathroom toys or vinyl pillows in California after January 1, 2009, unless the bathroom toys and pillows contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $26,000, 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.