Englander v. Home Expressions, Inc.

On August 21, 2017, citizen enforcer Peter Englander and settling party Home Expressions, Inc. (“Home Expressions”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Englander had alleged that Home Expressions sold vinyl/PVC toilet seats 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, Home Expressions agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC toilet seats in California after November 28, 2017, unless the toilet seats contain less than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $28,000, 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.