Englander v. Elite Mfg. Corp.

The parties involved in the case Englander v. Elite Mfg. Corp executed a C.C.P. § 664.6 Settlement on October 20, 2014.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Peter Englander alleged that Elite Mfg. Corp. (“Elite Mfg.”) sold upholstered furniture including stools with foam padding containing tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Elite Mfg. agreed not to sell any upholstered furniture including stools with foam padding in California after the agreement is approved by the court, unless the upholstered furniture contains no detectable amount  of TDCPP, tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) and/or tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Furniture currently in inventory must be sold with a Proposition 65 warning.  As Elite Mfg. has already provided written certification that all covered products sold in California qualify as reformulated, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The C.C.P. § 664.6 Settlement required settlement payments of $34,000, 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.