Leeman v. Robinsons-May Department Store, et al.

The San Francisco Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Leeman v. Robinsons-May Department Store, et al., on September 29, 2005, which resolved citizen enforcer Whitney R. Leeman's allegations that the settling defendant, The May Department Stores Company ("May"), manufactured, distributed, and/or sold certain glass and metal lamps, candleholders, and home decorative products that contain lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, after June 15, 2005, May shall not offer for sale in California any covered product containing lead, unless the covered product bears Proposition 65 warnings in accordance with Section 2.2 of the Consent Judgment, is otherwise exempt pursuant to Section 2.1(b), or meets the reformulation standards of Section 2.3. May also commits to reformulation efforts in accordance with Section 2.4.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $36,000, divided between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California 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.