Held v. Merkury Innovations LLC

On February 23, 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 Merkury Innovations LLC (“Merkury”).  In this matter, Held alleged that Merkury sold earphone cords 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, Merkury agreed not to sell any earphone cords in California after February 19, 2015, unless the cords contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies, or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $43,400, 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.