Held v. Rainbow West Apparel, Inc.

On May 15, 2009, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling defendant Rainbow West Apparel, Inc. (“Rainbow West”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held’s allegations that Rainbow West sold children’s PVC outerwear containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) and the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Rainbow West agreed not to sell any children’s outerwear in California after June 15, 2009, unless the children’s outwear contains no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP and no more than 300 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or has Proposition 65 health hazard warnings affixed to it. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $17,000, 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.