As You Sow v. Gaco Western, Inc., et al.

The Superior Court of California In and For the City and County of San Francisco entered a Consent Judgment in As You Sow v. Gaco Western, Inc., et al. in 1995, which resolved private enforcers As You Sow's allegations that the defendant Gaco Western, Inc. ("Gaco") sold certain paints and solvent products containing toluene and/or lead oxide in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Gaco agreed as of September 19, 1995, that it would not ship (or cause to be shipped) for sale or use in the State of California any products containing toluene and/or lead oxide unless such products were accompanied by the appropriate Proposition 65 health hazard warning in compliance with section 1 of the Agreement. Gaco also agreed to notify its distributors in writing of their agreement to ensure the products were in compliance with Proposition 65 and required the distributors to immediately affix the appropriate warning labels to the products that had already entered the stream of commerce.

The Consent Judgment required a civil penalties payment of $5,500, divided therein between a restitution payment to Citizens for a Better Environment, the AYS Proposition 65 fund, and a cost payment used by the whistleblower AYS as compensation for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.