Held v. Rust-Oleum Corporation

Whistleblower Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E. and settling party Rust-Oleum Corporation and its holding company RPM International Inc. (collectively “Rust-Oleum”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on May 1, 2014, which resolved Held’s allegations that Rust-Oleum sold tools with vinyl/PVC grips 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, Rust-Oleum agreed not to sell any tools in California after May 31, 2014, unless the tools contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Rust-Oleum provide written certification that by May 1, 2014, and continuing into the future, all tools sold in California qualify as reformulated, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $44,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Held and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.