Englander v. Best Buy Stores, L.P.

Citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Best Buy Stores, L.P. (“Best Buy”) were resolved on January 21, 2015, when the parties entered into a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that Best Buy sold upholstered furniture including ottomans with foam padding containing the flame retardant tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and vinyl/PVC upholstery 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, Best Buy agreed not to sell any furniture in California after September 1, 2014, unless the furniture contains no detectable amount of TDCPP and less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Furniture currently existing in Best Buy’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Best Buy provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after April 1, 2015 qualifies as reformulated, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $42,500, 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.