Held v. S. Goldberg and Co, Inc.; SG Footwear/Messer Group, Inc., et al.

On August 20, 2010, the San Francisco County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Ascendia Brands Co., Inc.; et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant S. Goldberg and Co., Inc. d/b/a SG Footwear ("SG Footwear") sold children's 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, SG Footwear agreed not to sell any children's shoes in California after December 15, 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. SG Footwear commits that 100% of children's shoes offered for sale in California after December 15, 2009, shall qualify as reformulated.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $25,000, to be 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.