Englander v. Barbaras Development, Inc.

On December 18, 2017, citizen enforcer Peter Englander and settling party Barbaras Development, Inc. (“Barbaras”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Englander had alleged that Barbaras sold vinyl/PVC tablecloths 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, Barbaras agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC tablecloths in California after January 30, 2017, unless the tablecloths contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $23,500, 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.