DiPirro v. Qualitek International, Inc., et al.

Citizen enforcer Michael DiPirro and settling party Qualitek International, Inc. ("Qualitek") entered into an out-of-court Settlement Agreement on May 27, 1999, resolving DiPirro's allegations that Qualitek sold soldering products whose customary use produces fumes that contain the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Qualitek agreed not to sell any of the soldering products identified in Exhibit A to the Settlement Agreement in California after November 28, 1999, unless the soldering products have Proposition 65 warnings provided pursuant to Section 1 of the Agreement. Additionally, Qualitek agreed to revise its Material Schedule Data Sheets to include health hazard warnings by November 28, 1999.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $29,900, 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.