Englander v. The Fountainhead Group, Inc.

The parties involved in the case Englander v. The Fountainhead Group, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on July 29, 2016.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Peter Englander alleged that The Fountainhead Group, Inc. (“Fountainhead”) sold sprayers with vinyl/PVC tubing 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, Fountainhead agreed not to sell any sprayers with vinyl/PVC tubing in California after the Alameda County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the tubing contains no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, butyl benzyl phthalate ("BBP"), di-n-butyl phthalate ("DBP"), diisodecyl phthalate ("DIDP"), di-n-hexyl phthalate ("DnHP") and/or diisononyl phthalate ("DINP") when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Fountainhead has agreed to supply its vendors with the above reformulation requirements and instruct them to comply expeditiously.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of up to $189,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Wozniak and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.