Englander v. The Premium Connection, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against settling party The Premium Connection, Inc. (“Premium Connection”) were resolved on November 22, 2013, when the parties entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement.  In this matter, Englander alleged that Premium Connection sold hand tool grips that contain the phthalate chemical di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate (“DEHP”) and heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Premium Connection agreed not to sell any hand tool grips in California after November 22, 2013, unless the grips contains no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP and no more than 100 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Premium Connection agreed to notify its vendors of the reformulation standards by December 1, 2013, and instruct them to provide hand tool grips that comply with these standards expeditiously.  Hand tool grips already existing in inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings.  Should Premium Connection provide written certification that all hand tool grips sold in California after March 1, 2014 qualifies as reformulated, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $55,000, 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.