Held v. Staples, Inc.

On April 13, 2011, the Sacramento County Superior Court entered a Supplemental Consent Judgment in Held v. Staples, Inc., which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Staples, Inc. ("Staples") sold pencil pouches/cases 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, Staples agreed not to order any pencil cases or pouches in California after January 24, 2011, unless the pencil cases and pouches contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in each accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $91,000, 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.