Held v. Sly Fox Apparel Group, LLC; Parigi Group Ltd.; Kemistre 8 LLC; Akademiks

On August 10, 2009, the Sacramento County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Sly Fox Apparel Group, LLC; Parigi Group Ltd.; Kemistre 8 LLC; Akademiks, which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Parigi Group Ltd. ("Parigi") sold children's hooded sweatshirts with vinyl zipper pulls 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 agreement, Parigi agreed not to sell any hooded sweatshirts with vinyl zipper pulls in California after June 15, 2009, unless the sweatshirts contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $35,000, 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.