Held v. Rico Industries, Inc.

On May 27, 2009, citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling defendant Rico Industries, Inc. (“Rico Industries”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved Held’s allegations that Rico Industries sold soft vinyl products imprinted with sports team logos 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, Rico agreed not to sell any soft vinyl products imprinted with sports team logos in California after May 27, 2009, unless the products contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 health hazard warnings provided. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $28,000, 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.