Englander v. CMC Worldwide, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant CMC Worldwide, Inc. (“CMC”) were resolved on October 28, 2013, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that CMC sold padded upholstered stools with foam padding 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, CMC agreed not to sell any stools in California after March 31, 2014, unless the stools contain no more than 25 parts per million of TDCPP and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”)  when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, CMC agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by November 15, 2013, and instruct them to provide stools that comply expeditiously.  Stools currently existing in CMC’s inventory may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should CMC provide written certification that all chairs sold in California after November 1, 2013 qualify 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 CMC should provide written certification that all stools sold in California after March 15, 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 $90,000, 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.