Englander v. Urban Home

Citizen enforcer Peter Englander’s allegations against defendant Urban Home were resolved on October 31, 2014, when the parties executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, Englander alleged that Urban Home sold padded upholstered furniture including ottmans with foam-cushioned components containing tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (“TDCPP”) and vinyl/PVC chairs 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, Urban Home agreed not to sell any furniture including ottomans with foam-cushioned components or vinyl/PVC chairs in California after January 30, 2015, unless the furniture contains no detectable amount of TDCPP and no more than 1,000 parts per million of DEHP, butyl benzyl phthalate (“BBP”) or di-n-butyl phthalate (“DBP”) when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies. Additionally, Urban Home agreed to provide its vendors with the reformulation standards by November 15, 2014, and instruct them to provide furniture that complies expeditiously.  Furniture currently existing in Urban Home’s inventory must be sold with Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Urban Home provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after November 30, 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 Urban Home should provide written certification that all furniture sold in California after December 30, 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 $61,000, 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.