Te'o v. Jaton Corporation, et al.

On October 7, 2008, the Alameda County Superior Court entered a Consent Judgment in Te'o v. Jaton Corporation, which resolved citizen enforcer Jamie Te'o's allegations that the defendant Jaton Corporation ("Jaton") sold products with solder containing the heavy metal lead in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Jaton agreed not to sell any video cards, graphic cards, or controller cards in California after May 30, 2008, unless the cards are sold or shipped with Proposition 65 warnings or contain no more than .1% of lead by weight in each solder material (unless the material is embedded in a manner that a consumer or worker would not ordinarily come into contact with the lead during reasonably foreseeable use). By August 30, 2008, Jaton agreed that all video cards, graphic cards, and controller cards sold in California would comply with reformulation standards. Additionally, in a good faith effort to warn the public about the risk of lead exposure from products received in inventory before May 30, 2008, Jaton agreed to post a Proposition 65 warning on its website for three years. Due to Jaton's prompt cooperation and commitment to reformulation, Te'o agreed to credit a portion of the civil fine. Should Jaton comply with the public information requirement, Te'o agreed to waive an additional portion of the fine. The settlement sum does not include additional fees incurred seeking judicial approval of the Consent Judgment.

The Consent Judgment requires settlement payments of $35,500, to be divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Te'o and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.