Held v. Kimberly-Clark Corporation

The parties involved in the case Held v. Kimberly-Clark Corporation executed a Consent Judgment on November 21, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E., alleged that defendant Kimberly-Clark Corporation (“Kimberly-Clark”) sold hearing protection products with vinyl/PVC components containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Kimberly-Clark agreed not to sell any hearing protection products  with vinyl/PVC components in California after November 15, 2014, unless the hearing protection products contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or Proposition 65 warnings are provided. 

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $31,000, 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.