Englander, et al. v. Z Gallerie

In the enforcement action Englander, et al. v. Z Gallerie, citizen enforcers Anthony Held, Ph.D., P.E. and Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Z Gallerie (“Z Gallerie”) were resolved on March 20, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander and Held alleged that Z Gallerie sold upholstered chairs with foam padding containing the flame retardant tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and chairs with vinyl/PVC upholstery 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, Z Gallerie agreed not to sell any chairs in California after August 15, 2014, unless the chairs contain no detectable amount of TDCPP and no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Z Gallerie agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by March 28, 2014, and instruct them to provide chairs that comply expeditiously.  Chairs currently existing in Z Gallerie’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Z Gallerie provide written certification that all chairs sold in California after June 1, 2014 qualify as reformulated, Englander and Held agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine.  Additionally, Englander and Held provided a credit for extending the breadth of reformulation, among other credits available, if Z Gallerie should provide written certification that all chairs sold in California after August 15, 2014, contain no detectable amounts of tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”)  in addition to satisfying the TDCPP requirement.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $91,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblowers Englander and Held and their counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.