Englander v. Furniture of America California, Inc.

In the enforcement action Englander v. Euromarket Designs Inc., et al., citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Furniture of America California, Inc. (“FAC”) were resolved on January 20, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that FAC sold padded upholstered chairs with foam padding containing the flame retardants tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) and tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and nightstands with vinyl/PVC upholstery 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, FAC agreed not to sell any covered furniture in California after May 31, 2014, unless the furniture contains no detectable amount of TCEP and TDCPP and no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, DBP, and BBP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, FAC agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by December 31, 2014, and instruct them to provide furniture that complies expeditiously.  Furniture currently existing in FAC’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should FAC provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after January 15, 2014 qualifies 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 FAC should provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after May 31, 2014, contains 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 $95,000, 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.