Englander v. HDS Trading Corp.

On February 1, 2016, citizen enforcer Peter Englander and settling party HDS Trading Corp. (“HDS”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Englander had alleged that HDS sold stools with vinyl/PVC components 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, HDS agreed not to sell any stools with vinyl/PVC components in California after February 1, 2016, unless the stools contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  HDS shall provide the reformulation standard above to its vendors and instruct them to comply expeditiously.  Should HDS provide Englander with written certification by November 1, 2016 that all stools with vinyl/PVC components sold in California qualify as reformulated products under the agreement, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $28,500, 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.