DiPirro v. American Art Clay Co., et al.

Citizen enforcer Michael DiPirro and settling party American Art Clay Co. ("AACC") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on December 6, 1999, resolving DiPirro's allegations that AACC sold products containing lead, cadmium, cobalt, crystalline silica, and toluene in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, AACC agreed not to sell any of the covered products in California after March 15, 2000, unless the products have Proposition 65 warnings provided. For the products already introduced into the stream of commerce, AACC shall either have Proposition 65 warnings sent to its vendors or recall the products. Should AACC recall its products and have half of the lead glaze products reformulated by July 15, 2001, DiPirro agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $75,000, to be divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower DiPirro and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.