Held v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Posted: 02/27/2015  browse the case archive

The parties involved in the case Held v. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on February 27, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D, P.E. alleged that John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (“JW&S”) sold books with vinyl/PVC covers 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 agreement, JW&S agreed not to sell any books with vinyl/PVC covers in California after the Alameda County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the books contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $35,000, 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.   

Download PDF

It appears your Web browser is not configured to display PDF files. No worries, just click here to download the PDF file.