Held v. King Par, LLC

On January 9, 2015, the parties executed an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved the allegations that whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D, P.E., made against settling party King Par, LLC (“King Par”).  In this matter, Held alleged that King Par sold vinyl/PVC golf ball retrievers with grips 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, King Par agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC golf ball retriever grips in California after February 2, 2015, unless the grips contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should King Par provide written certification by February 17, 2015 that all its vinyl/PVC golf ball retriever grips qualify as reformulated, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $44,000, 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.