Englander v. Seymour Midwest LLC

Whistleblower Peter Englander and settling parties Seymour Midwest LLC, formerly known as Midwest Rake Company, LLC, and Seymour Manufacturing Co., Inc. (collectively, “Seymour”) entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on June 17, 2014, which resolved Englander’s allegations that Seymour sold vinyl/PVC hand tool grips 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, Seymour agreed not to sell any vinyl/PVC hand tool grips in California after July 1, 2014, unless the grips contain no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Should Seymour provide written certification that by September 15, 2014, and continuing into the future, all hand tool grips sold in California qualify as reformulated, Englander agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $38,000, 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.