Englander v. Ross Stores, Inc.

In the enforcement action Englander v. Ross Stores, Inc., citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Ross Stores, Inc. (“Ross”) were resolved on March 7, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that Ross sold padded upholstered furniture with foam padding containing the flame retardants tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Ross agreed not to sell any furniture in California after April 1, 2014, unless the furniture contains no detectable amount of TDCPP or TCEP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Furniture currently existing in Ross’ inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Ross provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after February 1, 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 Ross should provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after June 1, 2014, contains no detectable amounts of tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”)  in addition to satisfying the TDCPP and TCEP requirements.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $45,000, 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.