Englander v. Style-Line Furn., Inc.

In the enforcement action Englander v. Style-Line Furn., Inc., citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Style-Line Furn., Inc. (“Style-Line”) were resolved on February 28, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that Style-Line sold padded upholstered furniture including sofas and chairs with foam padding containing the flame retardant tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Style-Line agreed not to sell any furniture in California after April 30, 2014, unless the furniture contains no detectable amount of tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”)and TDCPP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Style-Line agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by January 15, 2013, and instruct them to provide furniture that complies expeditiously.  Furniture currently existing in Style-Line’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Style-Line provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after March 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 Style-Line should provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after November 30, 2014, contains no detectable amounts of tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) in addition to satisfying the TCEP and TDCPP 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.