Englander v. American Textile Company, Inc.

The Settlement Agreement between citizen enforcer Peter Englander and settling party American Textile Company, Inc. ("American Textile") was entered into on January 25, 2013. This agreement resolved Englander's allegations that American Textile sold mattress covers and pillow covers 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 Textile agreed not to sell any mattress covers or pillow covers in California after January 31, 2013, unless the covers have Proposition 65 warnings provided or contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Should American Textile eliminate the need for Proposition 65 warnings, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. Additionally, American Textile agreed to pay a sum to the Silent Spring Institute, a not-for-profit institution dedicated to identifying the links between exposure to environmental chemicals and reproductive and developmental harm.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $130,000, 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.