Moorberg v. Bentex Group, Inc.

The parties involved in the case Moorberg v. Bentex Group, Inc. executed a Consent Judgment on November 24, 2015.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Mark Moorberg alleged that Bentex Group, Inc. (“Bentex”) sold tumblers with exterior designs containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.  

As part of the agreement, Bentex agreed not to sell any tumblers with exterior designs in California after the Marin County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the tumblers contain no more than 100 parts per million of lead in any accessible component when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies or have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Bentex provide written certification that all tumblers with exterior designs sold in California qualify as reformulated by November 15, 2016, Moorberg agreed to waive a portion of the civil fine that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $45,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Moorberg and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.