Moore v. New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc.

Posted: 05/09/2011  browse the case archive

On May 9, 2011, New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. ("New Balance"), executed an Amended Stipulation for Entry of Judgment electing to opt-into an Amended Consent Judgment to address the plaintiff John Moore's allegations that New Balance sold products containing the phthalate chemicals di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP"), butyl benzyl phthalate ("BBP"), and Di-n-butyl phthalate ("DBP") in the State of California without providing the requisite Proposition 65 warnings. The products covered by this stipulation are footwear containing DEHP, DBP, and BBP and sold to California citizens by New Balance.

As part of the settlement, New Balance agreed not to sell any footwear in California after December 15, 2011, unless each accessible component of the footwear contains less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, BBP, and DBP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. In the interim, New Balance was required to provide the agreed upon reformulation standard to its then-current vendors of footwear sold or offered for sale to California citizens and was required to instruct each vendor to use reasonable efforts to provide footwear that complies with the aforementioned reformulation standard expeditiously.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $41,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Moore and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.

On August 29, 2010, the San Francisco Superior Court consolidated two actions brought by citizen enforcers Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E. and John Moore against the defendant manufacturers, distributors and retailers of fashion accessories alleged to have sold products containing the phthalate chemical DEHP to California citizens without the requisite health hazard warnings. On March 22, 2011, an Amended Consent Judgment for this matter, which added the two additional phthalates BBP and DBP, was approved. A summary of the consolidated action and settlement can be found in Held v. Aldo U.S., Inc., et al. and Moore v. Kate Spade, et al. Lead Case No. CGC-10-497729. Click here for primary case record

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