DiPirro v. Nitto Kohki U.S.A., Inc., et al.

The Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in DiPirro v. Nitto Kohki U.S.A., Inc., et al. on April 30, 2001. This enforcement action resolved the allegations of citizen enforcer Michael DiPirro that defendant, Nitto Kohki U.S.A., Inc., sold various power tools and hand tools whose customary use and application may produce dust which contains lead, crystalline silica, arsenic, and/or chromium, in the State of California, without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Nitto agreed to immediately initiate commercially reasonable efforts to revise the current product warnings and commencing four months after the agreement is approved by the court, Nitto agreed to provide revised warnings pursuant to Section 1 of the agreement on all products sold in California. The revised warnings were to be: (1) printed in the owner's manual; or (2) placed on a label that is fastened to the product packaging, the product itself, or the owner's manual.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $27,500, 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.