Wozniak v. The Lang Companies

On May 31, 2016, the parties involved in the case Wozniak v. The Lang Companies executed a Consent Judgment.  In this matter, citizen enforcer Paul Wozniak alleged that The Lang Companies, formerly doing business as Perfect Timing, Inc. (“Defendant”), sold mugs 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, Defendant agreed not to sell any mugs with exterior designs in California after the Santa Clara County Superior Court approves the Judgment, unless the designs contain no more than 90 parts per million of lead when analyzed using state or federally approved testing methodologies OR they have Proposition 65 warnings provided.  Should Defendant provide Wozniak with certification by January 15, 2017 that all mugs with exterior designs sold in California qualify as reformulated by the above standards, Wozniak has agreed to waive a portion of the civil penalty that would otherwise be applied.

The Consent Judgment required settlement payments of $61,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which are paid to California’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and compensation to whistleblower Wozniak and his counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.