Englander v. E&A Worldwide Traders Inc.

On March 19, 2018, citizen enforcer Peter Englander and settling party E&A Worldwide Traders (“E&A Worldwide”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Englander had alleged that E&A Worldwide sold luggage tags with vinyl/PVC straps 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, E&A Worldwide agreed not to sell any luggage tags with vinyl/PVC straps in California after July 19, 2018, unless the straps 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 $20,000, 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.