Moore v. Castle Brands Inc.

On January 19, 2017, citizen enforcer John Moore and settling party Castle Brands Inc. (“Castle Brands”) entered into an out-of-court settlement agreement.  Moore had alleged that Castle Brands sold glassware with exterior designs containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Castle Brands agreed not to sell any glassware with exterior designs in California after February 19, 2017, unless the designs contain less than 90 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies, OR have Proposition 65 warnings included.  Should Castle Brands provide Moore with certification by May 15, 2017 that their glassware with exterior designs sold in California meets the above reformulation requirements, Moore has agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Settlement Agreement requires settlement payments of $41,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to citizen enforcer Moore and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.