Englander v. American Valve, Inc.

The parties involved in the case Englander v. American Valve, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on June 29, 2016.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Peter Englander alleged that American Valve, Inc. (“AVI”) sold valve handles with vinyl/PVC 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 agreement, AVI agreed not to sell any valve handles with vinyl/PVC grips in California after the San Francisco County Superior Court enters the Judgment, unless the grips contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies OR have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $37,500, 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.