Leeman v. Houston Harvest Gift Products LLC, et al.

The Superior Court of California City and County of San Francisco entered a Consent Judgment on March 9, 2005 in the matter of Leeman v. Houston Harvest Gift Products LLC, et al., which resolved citizen enforcer Dr. Whitney R. Leeman's allegations that the defendant Houston Harvest sold tableware with colored artwork or designs (containing lead) on the exterior, and tableware with colored artwork or designs (containing cadmium) on the exterior, in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Houston Harvest agreed not to sell any such products in California after December 31, 2004, unless such products have Proposition 65 warnings provided or are exempt from the health hazard warnings because they (i) were manufactured prior to December 31, 2004; (ii) are reformulated in accordance with the standards set forth in Sections 2.3 and 2.4 of the Consent Judgment; or (iii) are products manufactured by any other person in the course of doing business who is subject to a final judgment addressing Proposition 65 warning obligations arising from alleged exposures to tableware products with colored artwork, designs or markings on the exterior surface.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $150,000, 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.