Englander v. American Lawn Mower Co. and The Great States Corporation

Whistleblower Peter Englander and settling parties American Lawn Mower Co. and The Great States Corporation (collectively “American Lawn Mower”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on July 8, 2013, which resolved Englander’s allegations that American Lawn Mower sold reel mowers with vinyl/PVC hand grips 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, American Lawn Mower agreed not to sell any reel mowers with vinyl/PVC hand grips in California after February 1, 2014, unless the mowers contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  For a brief interim period from July 1, 2013, to February 1, 2014, American Lawn Mower shall place Proposition 65 warnings on the mowers that do not meet reformulation standards, after which time all mowers will comply with standards.  Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied if American Lawn Mower provided written certification that by December 31, 2013, and continuing into the future, all mowers sold in California qualify as reformulated.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $43,500, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Englander and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.