Held v. Remington Industries, Inc.

The parties involved in the enforcement action Held v. Remington Industries, Inc., et al. executed an agreement on September 5, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E., alleged that the defendant Remington Industries, Inc. (“Remington”) sold automobile seat organizers containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Remington agreed not to sell any automobile seat organizers in California after the Santa Clara County Superior Court approves the Consent Judgment, unless the organizers contain no more than 100 parts per million of lead and no more than 1,000 parts per million of di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”), di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”), and butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or Proposition 65 warnings are provided.   Should Remington provide written certification that all automobile seat organizers sold in California meet the lead standard by July 15, 2015, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Consent Judgment requires a total settlement payment of $69,750, 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.