Englander and Vinocur v. Helen of Troy, L.P.

Citizen enforcers Laurence Vinocur and Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Helen of Troy, L.P. (“Helen”) in the case Englander, et al. v. Cheyenne Industries, LLC, et al. were resolved on October 2, 2013, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this enforcement action, Englander and Vinocur brought allegations against thirteen different furniture companies alleging Proposition 65 violations, including Helen.  They alleged that Helen sold upholstered cushion massagers with foam padding containing tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and/or tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Helen agreed not to sell any cushion massagers in California after March 31, 2014, unless the cushions contain no more than 25 parts per million each of TDCPP and TCEP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, Helen agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by October 15, 2013, and instruct them to provide cushions that comply expeditiously.  Cushions currently existing in Helen’s inventory may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Helen provide written certification that all cushions sold in California after November 1, 2013 qualify as reformulated, Vinocur and Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine.  Additionally, Vinocur and Englander provided a credit for extending reformulation, among other credits available, if Helen should provide written certification that all cushions sold in California also contain no more  than 25 parts per million of tris(2,3-dibromopropyl) phosphate (“TDBPP”) by March 15, 2014.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $136,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblowers Vinocur and Englander and their counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.