The Chanler Group

BERKELEY, Calif. – April 2, 2013 – The Chanler Group (www.chanler.com), a Connecticut-based environmental law firm, has filed Proposition 65 civil complaints on behalf of Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D., against three prominent national food suppliers: spice and flavoring manufacturer McCormick & Company, Inc.; coffee and flavoring manufacturer Farmer Bros. Co.; as well as Adams Extract & Spice, LLC.  All complaints are filed in the Superior Court of the State of California, San Francisco County for the firm’s client. The complaints charge the three defendants with distributing food extracts, flavors and colorings containing unacceptable levels of the carcinogenic chemical 4-MEI, or 4-Methylimidazole, without a proper consumer warning label.

The Chanler Group had previously issued 60-day notices of violation, urging the manufacturers to comply with California's Proposition 65 requirements.  The state law calls for manufacturers and retailers to label products containing known carcinogenic toxins with a warning to inform consumers prior to exposure.  The 4-MEI compound is frequently added to food products for its caramel color.  It was first added to Prop. 65's list of chemicals known to the state of California to cause cancer in January of 2011.

“This particular compound has been listed as a carcinogen for two years now, but many products still contain the toxic chemical without the labeling required by law,” said Clifford Chanler, founder and spokesperson for The Chanler Group.  “The safety of consumers is important to us.  These three companies are united by a responsibility to either remove the toxic chemicals from their manufacturing processes, or to label those products in compliance with the law.”

Beginning in 2012, The Chanler Group independently purchased a variety of products from McCormick & Company, Inc., Farmer Bros. Co., and Adams Extract & Spice, LLC.  The products were then tested in a certified laboratory, where significant levels of 4-MEI were detected.  The 4-MEI compound is also commonly found in pharmaceuticals, photographic chemicals, dyes, pigments, cleaning products, and rubber products.

The three civil complaints call for injunctive action on the part of the court, which would compel McCormick & Company, Inc., Farmer Bros. Co., and Adams Extract & Spice, LLC to either change their manufacturing processes to reduce or eliminate the presence of 4-MEI, or to clearly label all products containing the chemical.  Chanler Group is also seeking civil penalties, 75% of which are payable to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, against these defendants in accordance with California's Health and Safety Code.

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers and whistleblowers who promote awareness of toxic chemicals found in our everyday environment and to enhance the health of the general public by advocating for the removal of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm from consumer products.  The Chanler Group and its clients apply over 20 years of knowledge and experience to their ongoing enforcement activities with the goal of holding those responsible for toxic exposures accountable for their violations of state and federal law. 

In addition to strict compliance with the law, The Chanler Group’s clients have forced hundreds of companies to reformulate commonly used products, eliminating chemicals that are known to cause cancer or birth defects.  Some of those companies now manufacture only non-toxic products.  Additionally, The Chanler Group has been instrumental in generating over $100 million in civil fines and other funds for projects that educate children, workers and consumers about precautions they can take to significantly reduce toxic chemical exposure.  The Chanler Group’s ongoing efforts effectuate change for a cleaner environment.  For more information, please visit www.chanler.com.

Gary Pike, APR
(415) 585-2100         
gary@pikeandcompany.com                      

A former hospice physician recently secured a $750,000 settlement from the City of San Francisco after he filed complaints alleging that his layoff was the result of retaliation for whistleblower complaints that San Francisco’s Laguna Honda Hospital and Rehabilitation Center (“Laguna Honda Hospital”) had misused patient funds and knowingly entered into a conflict of interest.

Dr. Derek Kerr, a hospice physician for over 20 years at Laguna Honda Hospital, filed complaints against the hospital in late 2010, alleging that it misused patient gift funds and knowingly entered into a conflict of interest when it established a relationship with a non-profit that had connections to management at the hospital.  The day after he filed the complaints, Kerr received a layoff notice.

Kerr reported the layoff to the San Francisco Ethics Commission as whistleblower retaliation, which is prohibited under California Government Code section 53298, California Health and Safety Code section 1432, and California Labor Code section 1102.5.  He later filed a complaint in the San Francisco County Superior Court and eventually negotiated a $750,000 settlement with the city, and an agreement that a plaque be installed at the hospital commemorating his work there.  He will also be lauded by the very officials who were allegedly responsible for his layoff.

The Chanler Group, in association with the Hirst Law Group, represents whistleblowers who have been subject to retaliation for taking action under the False Claims Act to report fraud committed against the federal and state governments.  We have years of experience representing whistleblower clients who expose every kind of fraud against the government, including health care fraud, contract fraud, and tax fraud.  Read more about our expertise in False Claims Act cases and how you can take action.

The Marin County Superior Court today granted the motion of Dr. Anthony Held, a client of The Chanler Group, to approve a Proposition 65 Settlement and Consent Judgment entered into with Kiss Nail Products, Inc. and Kiss Products, Inc. (collectively Kiss), in which Kiss has agreed to pay civil penalties and reformulate its pedicure and manicure kits to reduce or virtually eliminate the presence of DEHP, a phthalate chemical known to the State of California to cause reproductive harm.  Dr. Held’s Proposition 65 action against Kiss was filed three years ago, on March 25, 2011, and involved extensive, and at times aggressive, litigation. 

Prior to the settlement agreement’s fruition, Dr. Held, through his TCG attorneys, defeated Kiss’s motion for summary judgment.  A major part of Kiss’s argument involved presenting expert evidence in an attempt to establish that contact between Kiss’s products and the skin of individuals using the products (“dermal exposure”) did not exceed the maximum allowable dose level for DEHP.  Relying on Kiss’s evidence, the California Attorney General’s Office sent Dr. Held a public letter, in which it appeared to support Kiss’s motion, and requested that Dr. Held withdraw a then-pending supplemental 60-day notice regarding additional products that Kiss offered for sale in California.  The letter was sent in time for Kiss to use the letter in its reply brief in support of summary judgment.  Despite Kiss’s efforts, and the Attorney General’s letter, the court denied Kiss’s motion for summary judgment, finding that Kiss's scientific expert failed to provide an evidentiary basis for his opinion regarding dermal exposure.

After three years of litigation and the apparent overreach of the Attorney General’s Office, Dr. Held’s ultimate settlement with Kiss resulted in a substantial benefit for the public.  The Marin County Superior Court has vindicated the efforts of Dr. Held and The Chanler Group in its approval of the settlement.

The Chanler Group represents citizen enforcers who, acting in the public interest, commence actions against businesses offering products for sale in California that contain chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive harm without first providing the health hazard warning required by Proposition 65. Citizen enforcers bringing Proposition 65 actions in the public interest may obtain a Court Judgment imposing civil penalties, an injunction requiring reformulation of products, and/or provision of health hazard warnings. The Chanler Group has represented citizen enforcers of Proposition 65 for more than twenty years.

Alabama-based Caddell Construction has agreed to pay a $1.15 million settlement to resolve allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by knowingly making false reports to the Army Corps of Engineers that they had hired and were mentoring a Native American-owned company to work construction projects, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.

The United States alleged that from 2003 to 2005, Caddell falsely represented in invoices and supporting documents that it was mentoring Mountain Chief Management Services to perform work on construction projects at Fort Bragg, N.C. and Fort Campbell, Ky.  The mentorship of Mountain Chief Management Services was part of Caddell’s contract with the Army Corps of Engineers, and Caddell received reimbursements and rebates under the Mentor-Protégé and Indian Incentive Programs.  However, as alleged by the government, Mountain Chief was a pass-through entity used by Caddell to enable Caddell to claim payments and did not actually perform the work or receive any mentoring.

The Chanler Group, in association with the Hirst Law Group, represents whistleblowers who take action under the False Claims Act to report fraud committed against the federal and state governments.  We have years of experience representing whistleblower clients who expose every kind of fraud against the government, including health care fraud, contract fraud, and tax fraud.  Read more about our expertise in False Claims Act cases and how you can take action.