Englander v. Novelty Inc.

On February 23, 2018, citizen enforcer Peter Englander and settling party Novelty Inc. (“Novelty”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement. Englander had alleged that Novelty sold car chargers 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, Novelty agreed not to sell any car chargers with vinyl/PVC components in California after February 23, 2018, unless the chargers 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 $20,000, 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.