Englander v. Big Tex Trailer Manufacturing, Inc., et al.

The parties involved in the case Englander v. Big Tex Trailer Manufacturing, Inc., et al. executed a Consent Judgment on January 17, 2018.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Peter Englander alleged that Big Tex Trailer Manufacturing, Inc. (“BTTM”) and Carry-On Trailer, Inc. (“COTT” and, collectively with BTTM, the “Settling Defendants”) sold vinyl coated cables 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, the Settling Defendants agreed not to sell any vinyl coated cables in California after the San Francisco County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the cords 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 up to $26,000, 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.