Englander v. Hangzhou GreatStar Tool Co., Ltd.

Posted: 06/13/2013  browse the case archive

In the enforcement action Englander v. Hangzhou GreatStar Tool Co., Ltd., the parties executed a Consent Judgment on June 13, 2013.  The case resolved citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations that the defendant Hangzhou GreatStar Tool Co., Ltd. (“GreatStar Tool”) sold tools with vinyl grips and stools with vinyl seats 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, GreatStar Tool agreed not to sell any tools with vinyl grips or stools with vinyl seats in California after May 1, 2014, unless the tools and stools contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should GreatStar Tool provide written certification that all grips and stools are reformulated by March 15, 2014, Englander agreed to credit a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $67,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Englander and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.

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