Moore v. The Sports Authority, Inc. and Savvier LP

The Honorable Lynn Duryee of the Marin County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment on October 23, 2012, in the enforcement action Moore v. Natco Products Corporation, et al., which resolved citizen enforcer John Moore’s allegations that the defendant The Sports Authority, Inc. (“Sports Authority”) sold exercise/fitness mats, sauna suits, and Bender balls containing the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) and dumbbell handles containing di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”)  and the defendant Savvier LP (“Savvier”) also sold Bender balls containing DEHP, all in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings. 

As part of the settlement, Sports Authority and Savvier agreed not to sell any exercise/fitness mats, sauna suits, Bender balls, or dumbbell handles in California after June 12, 2012, unless the products contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP or DBP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, by December 7, 2012, Sports Authority agreed to notify its vendors of the reformulation standards and instruct them to provide products that comply expeditiously. Sports Authority and Savvier also agreed to maintain copies of its product testing for two years. 

The Consent Judgment requires the defendants to make settlement payments that total $105,000, 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.