Leeman v. Ustov, Inc., et al.

On December 12, 2016, citizen enforcer Whitney R. Leeman, Ph.D. and settling parties Ustov, Inc. and U.S. Trading Company (collectively, “Ustov”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Leeman had alleged that Ustov sold oolong tea containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Ustov agreed not to sell any oolong tea in California after December 12, 2016, unless the tea contains no reportable amount of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies OR have Proposition 65 warnings provided.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $29,750, 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.