Held v. University Art Center, Inc.

In the enforcement action Held v. University Art Center, Inc., the parties executed a Consent Judgment on April 10, 2013.  This enforcement action resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.’s allegations that the defendant University Art Center, Inc. (“University Art Center”) sold vinyl pen and pencil 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, University Art Center agreed not to sell the specific pen case identified in the Consent Judgment in California after April 1, 2013.  Should Held discover that the pencil case was distributed in sales volumes materially different from those previously identified by University Art Center, the defendant shall be liable for additional penalties. 

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $20,000, 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.