Englander v. A.R.T. Furniture, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant A.R.T. Furniture, Inc. (“A.R.T. Furniture”) were resolved on January 7, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that A.R.T. Furniture sold padded upholstered furniture containing the flame retardant tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, A.R.T. Furniture agreed not to sell any furniture in California after July 1, 2014, unless the furniture contains no detectable amount of TDCPP and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, A.R.T. Furniture agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by January 15, 2014, and instruct them to provide furniture that complies expeditiously.  Furniture currently existing in A.R.T. Furniture’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should A.R.T. Furniture provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after April 15, 2013 qualifies as reformulated, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine.  Additionally, Englander provided a credit for extending the breadth of reformulation, among other credits available, if A.R.T. Furniture should provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after July 1, 2014, contain no detectable amounts of tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) in addition to satisfying the TCEP and TDCPP requirements.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $58,000, 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.