As You Sow v. National Sanitary Supply Company, et al.

The Marin County Superior Court entered a Judgment according to the October 30, 1996, settlement between Proposition 65 private enforcer and whistleblower As You Sow and defendant National Sanitary Supply Company. The settlement and judgment resolved the private enforcement action commenced by AYS. On November 8, 1995, AYS issued a 60-day Notice of Violation of Proposition 65 alleging that NSSC violated the Act when it sold its Strip-It Paint & Sealer Remover and Aquatone II Sealer products in California without the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. The products were alleged to contain toluene, ethylene glycol mono ethyl ether, and methylene chloride, each of which is listed pursuant to Proposition 65 as a chemical that is known to cause cancer, or reproductive harm or birth defects.

The settlement required NSSC to implement health hazard warnings for products containing any Proposition 65-listed chemical immediately and to have warnings in place for 100% of the products sold or distributed for sale in California by November 15, 1996. NSSC was also required to revise the MSDS included with each of its products to incorporate the specific warning language required by AYS. Under the agreement, NSSC made settlement payments up to a total of $21,500, including a $5,000 civil penalty payment divided between the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (75%) and AYS (25%). AYS agreed that civil penalty will be waived if NSSC provided AYS with written certification that it has reformulated the products at issue to remove Proposition 65-listed chemicals, or taken significant steps to reformulate the products. NSSC also reimbursed AYS for the attorneys' fees and costs incurred concluding the action in the public interest.