Held v. Pumpkin Patch LLC

On June 26, 2009, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling defendant Pumpkin Patch LLC (“Pumpkin Patch”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held’s allegations that Pumpkin Patch sold pre-walk 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, Pumpkin Patch agreed not to sell any pre-walk shoes after June 26, 2009, unless the shoes contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 health hazard warnings affixed to them.  All of the pre-walk shoes sold in California by Pumpkin Patch after September 30, 2009, shall meet reformulation standards. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $26,500, 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.