Settlement Talks Begin in New York City E-Waste Lawsuit
CEA and the ITI Council have begun settlement talks with New York City and its co-defendant, the Natural Resources Defense Council, aimed at resolving the manufacturers’ lawsuit that has stopped the city’s e-waste program from taking effect. Officials at CEA and the NRDC confirmed the talks. They said little more, citing the confidential nature of the discussions.
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Negotiators for CEA, ITI, the city and the NRDC are giving themselves two months to fashion a compromise, according to an order signed Friday by U.S. District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan. In the order, Pauley said the parties in the lawsuit jointly requested the postponement of oral argument that had been scheduled for Wednesday. “On consent of the parties,” Pauley ordered that the manufacturers’ motion for a preliminary injunction be terminated “without prejudice,” meaning the plaintiffs may renew their preliminary injunction motion through a written request on or before April 15. If the motion is reinstated, oral argument will be May 7 at 10 a.m., the order said.
“The parties have agreed to pursue settlement negotiations and jointly requested the court to postpone consideration of the plaintiffs’ motion for preliminary injunction in order to facilitate that process,” Parker Brugge, CEA vice president of environmental affairs and industry sustainability, told us by e-mail. “Implementation of the program continues to be stayed in the meantime.”
Brugge said he’s barred from discussing specifics, such as how the agreement to pursue settlement talks was hatched and when. “Due to the confidential nature of settlement discussions, I can’t say anything more,” Brugge said. “All I can say is that we look forward to working toward the creation and implementation of a robust and sustainable electronics recycling program for New York City residents.” NRDC Senior Attorney Kate Sinding also confirmed the talks and said her group would be involved. She, too, cited confidentiality as the reason why she couldn’t discuss the talks. Lawyers for New York City didn’t respond right away to our requests for comment.
The Electronics Takeback Coalition, not involved in the talks but a backer of the NRDC in defense of the New York City e-waste law, thinks “it’s a good sign that settlement talks have been scheduled,” said Barbara Kyle, the group’s executive director. “I don’t know the details of or parameters for the negotiations, but I would hope that they would simply focus on the regulations, which contain the direct collection language that the companies have been focused on, and not on the law itself. That’s how we will know if this industry is sincere in its claim that it is not attacking the concept of producer responsibility.”
Which party approached which about getting settlement talks going couldn’t be determined by our Monday deadline. It’s clear the bridge between the two sides was built only in the last several days. That’s because only as recently as Jan. 28 had CEA and ITI officials held a telephone briefing to tell reporters they were as determined as ever to pursue a preliminary injunction to stop the city’s e-waste program from taking effect.