Held v. Sam Ash Music Corporation

The parties involved in the enforcement action Held v. Sam Ash Music Corporation executed a Consent Judgment on December 12, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E., alleged that defendant Sam Ash Music Corporation (“Sam Ash”) sold benches with vinyl/PVC upholstery containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Sam Ash agreed not to sell any benches  with vinyl/PVC upholstery in California after the Alameda County Superior Court approves the Consent Judgment, unless the benches contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or Proposition 65 warnings are provided.  Should Sam Ash provide written certification by February 15, 2015, that all benches sold in California qualify as reformulated, Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $40,000, 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.