Held v. Hewlett-Packard Company

On March 8, 2012, the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Held v. Hewlett-Packard Company, which resolved citizen enforcer Anthony E. Held, Ph.D., P.E.'s allegations that the defendant Hewlett-Packard Company ("Hewlett-Packard") sold briefcases for notebooks and computer cases with zipper pulls containing the phthalate chemicals di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate ("DEHP"), butyl benzyl phthalate ("BBP"), di-n-butyl phthalate ("DBP"), di-isodecyl phthalate ("DIDP"), and/or di-n-hexyl phthalate ("DnHP") in the State of California without providing the requisite Proposition 65 health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Hewlett-Packard agreed not to sell any briefcases or computer cases with zipper pulls in California after December 15, 2012, unless the briefcases and computer cases comply with reformulation standards when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $190,000, 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 successfully enforcing this matter in the public interest.