Englander v. CVS Pharmacy, Inc.

The Settlement Agreement between citizen enforcer Peter Englander and settling party CVS Pharmacy, Inc. erroneously noticed as CVS Caremark Corporation, (“CVS”), was executed on September 25, 2013.  This out-of-court agreement resolved Englander’s allegations that CVS sold vinyl/PVC automobile document holders 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, CVS agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC automobile document holders in California after September 1, 2013, unless the document holders contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should CVS provide written certification that all document holders have been reformulated by November 1, 2013, and continuing to the future, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $22,500, 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.