Englander v. Amini Innovation Corp.

Whistleblower Peter Englander and settling party Amini Innovation Corp. (“Aminir”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on October 28, 2013, which resolved Englander’s allegations that Amini sold vinyl/PVC benches 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, Amini agreed not to sell the specific bench identified in the Consent Judgment in California after November 15, 2013, unless the bench contains no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or has Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Amini provide written certification that by December 1, 2013, and continuing into the future, all forms of the specific bench sold in California qualify as reformulated, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $16,000, 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.