DiPirro v. Contract Coatings Corporation, et al.

Citizen enforcer Michael DiPirro and Contract Coatings Corporation entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on December 6, 1999. This Agreement was later brought before the San Francisco County Superior Court for approval on January 3, 2000. The Settlement Agreement resolved DiPirro's allegations that Contract Coatings sold paints, enamels, stains, and paint thinners containing toluene in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, beginning on January 15, 2000, Contract Coatings agreed to not knowingly ship (or cause to be shipped) any of the products for sale in California unless such products contained the warning language set out in Section 1.1 of the Agreement.  Contract Coatings also agreed to provide interim warning materials to its customers whom it knew to be distributing or selling products in California without the proper warnings language.  DiPirro agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalties to be paid by Contract Coatings if Contract Coatings certified that all products being sold in California had been reformulated to remove all traces of Toluene. 

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $19,550, 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.