Englander v. Three Hands Corporation

In the enforcement action Englander v. Three Hands Corporation, citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Three Hands Corporation (“Three Hands”) were resolved on August 7, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that Three Hands sold upholstered furniture including ottomans 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, Three Hands agreed not to sell any furniture including ottomans in California after August 1, 2014, unless the furniture contains no detectable amount of TDCPP and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.  Additionally, Three Hands agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by August 1, 2014, and instruct them to provide furniture that complies expeditiously.  Furniture currently existing in Three Hands’ inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Three Hands provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after May 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 Three Hands should provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after September 1, 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 $108,500, 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.