Held v. Pride & Joys, Inc.; et al.

On June 8, 2012, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Pride & Joys, Inc.; et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Pride & Joys, Inc., et al. ("P&J") sold belts 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, P&J agreed not to sell in California any belts after December 15, 2012, unless such belts contain less than or equal to 1,000 parts per million (0.1%) of DEHP when analyzed pursuant to state and federally approved testing methodologies. P&J also agreed to provide the reformulation standard to its then-current vendors and instruct them to use reasonable efforts to provide only reformulated belts expeditiously. Due to P&J's 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 $36,000, 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.