As You Sow v. Products/Techniques, Inc. et al.

On January 5, 1996, the San Mateo Superior Court entered a settlement in the form of a judgment in the matter of As You Sow v. Products/Techniques, Inc., et al. (Case No. 394820). The settlement, executed October 12, 1995, resolved As You Sow's claim that Products/Techniques, Inc. ("PTI") sold paint and coating products containing the Proposition 65-listed chemicals, toluene and ethylene glycol monoethyl acetate, without providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. The chemicals identified by AYS are listed pursuant to Proposition 65 as chemicals known to cause cancer, or reproductive harm or birth defects.

Under the settlement, PTI agreed to provide specific health hazard warning labels regarding the type of harm associated with exposures to the particular Proposition 65-listed chemicals in its products, and to revise the MSDS included with its products to include the warning language required for product labels. PTI made settlement payments totaling $9,000, which was divided between civil penalties paid to the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (75%) and AYS (25%), and restitution and costs. AYS allocated the restitution component of the payment to Bike Aid, a nonprofit organization involved in researching harmful chemical exposures. The cost component of the settlement reimbursed AYS's counsel for the reasonable fees and costs incurred bringing, litigating, and negotiating a settlement of the private enforcement action in the public interest.