As You Sow v. Ellis Paint Company, et al.

A Consent Judgment in the As You Sow v. Ellis Paint Company, et al. matter, heard in the San Mateo County Superior Court was entered on January 24, 1996. The Consent Judgment resolved private enforcers As You Sow's allegations that the defendant Ellis Paint Company ("Ellis") sold paint and solvents containing benzene, chromium (hexavalent compounds), dichloromethane (methylene chloride), formaldehyde (gas), lead and lead compounds, nickel, p-a,a,a-Tetrachlorotoluene, silica, crystalline (airborne particles of respirable size), tetrachloroethylene, toluene diisocyanate and Trichloroethylene (hereinafter "products") in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Ellis agreed not to sell products in California unless such products contained Health Hazard warning labels as prescribed in the Consent Judgment. The Consent Judgment required restitution payments of $17,000 made pursuant to Business & Professions Code section 17203, and forwarded by As You Sow to the following: (1) The Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, an environmental organization dedicated to the enforcement of environmental laws; (2) The National Media Project, a project of the Institute of Social Justice, producing a progressive weekly radio program covering environmental and other policy issues, including the reduction of toxic exposures at the community level; (3) Silicon Valley Toxics Group, an environmental group specializing in environmental education, including California's Proposition 65; and (4) The Data Center, a nationally-recognized clearinghouse of information used by researchers and activists to research social change issues, and to improve awareness regarding toxic hazards. The Consent Judgment also required settlement payments of $14,500 to whistleblower As You Sow and their counsel for the successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.