Leeman v. Gekkeikan Sake (U.S.A.), Inc.

On December 10, 2014, the parties executed an out-of-court Settlement Agreement, which resolved the allegations that whistleblower Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D. made against settling party Gekkeikan Sake (U.S.A.), Inc. (“Gekkeikan”).  In this matter, Leeman alleged that Gekkeikan sold sake glasses and glass decanters with exterior designs containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Gekkeikan agreed not to sell any sake glasses or glass decanters with exterior designs in California after December 10, 2014, unless the glasses and decanters contain no more than 90 parts per million of lead in any accessible component and comply with the other reformulation standards outlined in Section 2.1 when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $50,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Leeman and her counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.