Leeman v. The Tao of Tea LLC

On January 19, 2017, citizen enforcer Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D. and settling party The Tao of Tea LLC (“Tao”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Leeman had alleged that Tao sold dried teas containing naphthalene and lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Tao agreed not to sell any dried teas in California after February 1, 2017, unless the tea contains virtually no lead or naphthalene when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $30,000, 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.