DiPirro v. KBC Tools & Machinery, Inc., et al.

The Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in DiPirro v. KBC Tools & Machinery on December 26, 2001. This enforcement action resolved the allegations of citizen enforcer Michael DiPirro that defendant KBC Tools & Machinery distributed and sold certain power tools, the use of which expose persons to lead, crystalline silica, arsenic and chromium in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, KBC agreed to provide Proposition 65 warnings on all of its products, exclusive of those products covered in People v. Ace Hardware, San Francisco Superior Court Case No. 995893. The warning language was to be affixed to the package or shipping invoice for every shipment of Products provided to all California customers.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $4,500, divided 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.