Held v. Morris Rothenberg & Son, Inc.

The parties involved in the case Held v. Morris Rothenberg & Son, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on January 18, 2017.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. alleged that Morris Rothenberg & Son, Inc. (“Morris”) sold camp showers with vinyl/PVC tubing 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, Morris agreed not to sell any camp showers with vinyl/PVC tubing in California after the San Mateo County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the hose contains no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of up to $26,000, 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.