Held v. Oriental Trading Company, Inc.

On December 14, 2009, the Marin County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Oriental Trading Company, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Oriental Trading Company, Inc. ("Oriental") sold soft novelty toys/balls and inflatable toys 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, Oriental agreed not to manufacture or distribute any children's soft novelty toys/balls and inflatable toys in California after September 15, 2009, unless the products contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $52,500, to be 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.