Held v. Krueger International, Inc.

Posted: 08/04/2014  browse the case archive

The parties involved in the case Held v. Krueger International, Inc., et al. executed a Consent Judgment on August 4, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E., alleged that Krueger International, Inc. (“Krueger”) sold folding chairs with vinyl/PVC upholstery containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate and folding chairs with foam padding containing the flame retardant tris(1,3-dichloro-2-prophyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Krueger agreed not to sell any folding chairs in California after December 1, 2014, unless the folding chairs contain no detectable amount of TDCPP and no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Folding chairs already existing in inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Krueger provide written certification that all folding chairs sold in California qualify as reformulated by October 1, 2014, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $85,000, 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.   

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