Leeman v. Carlton Cards Retail, Inc., et al.

The Alameda County Superior Court of California entered a Consent Judgment on December 13, 2004 in Leeman v. Carlton Cards Retail, Inc., et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Dr. Whitney R. Leeman's allegations that defendant Carlton sold Tiffany-style lamps that contained lead or lead compounds in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Carlton agreed it shall not offer any products for sale in the State of California as of September 25, 2004 unless they are reformulated to be virtually free of lead pursuant to the conditions of Paragraph 5.0(c) of the Agreement, or bear the appropriate Proposition 65 health hazard warnings.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $35,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which were paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Leeman and her counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.