Held v. MTD Products Company

Whistleblower Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party MTD Products Company (“MTD”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on May 21, 2014, which resolved Held’s allegations that MTD sold tools with vinyl/PVC 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, MTD agreed not to sell any tools with vinyl/PVC grips in California after June 1, 2014, unless the grips contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should MTD provide written certification that by June 15, 2014, and continuing into the future, all tools with vinyl/PVC grips sold in California 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 $24,000, 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.