Englander v. Universal Furniture International, Inc.

Citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Universal Furniture International, Inc. (“Universal”) were resolved on November 6, 2013, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that Universal sold benches with foam padding containing tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and vinyl/PVC kids recliners 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, Universal agreed not to sell any of the furniture in California after March 31, 2014, unless the benches and recliners contain no more than 25 parts per million of TDCPP and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (“TCEP”) and no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, DBP, and BBP when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, Universal agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by October 15, 2013, and instruct them to provide furniture that complies expeditiously.  Furniture currently existing in Universal’s inventory may be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Universal provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after November 1, 2013 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 Universal should provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after March 31, 2014, contains no detectable amounts of tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate (“TDBPP”) in addition to satisfying the TDCPP requirement.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $137,000, 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.