Englander v. Kinfine U.S.A. Inc.

In the enforcement action Englander v. Kinfine U.S.A.  Inc., et al., citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Kinfine U.S.A. Inc. (“Kinfine”) were resolved on June 9, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that Kinfine sold padded upholstered furniture including ottomans and children’s chairs with foam padding containing the flame retardants tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) and tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and ottomans 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, Kinfine agreed not to sell any covered furniture in California after the Alameda County Superior Court approves the Consent Judgment, unless the furniture contains no detectable amount of TCEP, TDCPP and tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) and no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, DBP, and BBP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Furniture currently existing in Kinfine’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Kinfine 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 Kinfine should provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after January 31, 2014, qualifies as reformulated.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $140,000, 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.