Held v. Paris Accessories, Inc.

On June 8, 2010, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E., and settling defendant Paris Accessories, Inc. ("Paris Accessories") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held's allegations that Paris Accessories sold children's shoes 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 agreement, Paris Accessories agreed not to sell any children's shoes in California after June 15, 2010, unless the children's shoes contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

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