Held v. Notations, Inc.

On or about February 13, 2012, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling defendant Notations, Inc. ("Notations") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that Notations sold dresses with components containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP") in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

In the Settlement Agreement, Nations represented that as of February 24, 2012, Notations no longer sells or distributes dresses for sale in California. As part of the settlement, however, should Notations do so in the future, Notations agreed to only sell dresses in California that contain less than 0.1 percent (1,000 parts per million) of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state and federally approved testing methodologies. Due to Notations' commitment to comply with these heightened standards, Held agreed to credit a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment 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 whistleblower Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.