As You Sow v. Miller-Stephenson Chemical Company, Inc., et al.

The Superior Court of California In and For the County of Marin entered a Consent Judgment in 1995 in As You Sow v. Miller-Stephenson Chemical Company, Inc., et al., which resolved private enforcer As You Sow's allegations that the defendant Miller-Stephenson Chemical Company, Inc. ("MSC") sold certain paints and solvent products containing toluene and/or methylene chloride in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, MSC agreed as of August 1, 1995, that it would not ship (or cause to be shipped) for sale or use in the State of California any covered products unless such products were accompanied by the appropriate Proposition 65 health hazard warning in compliance with section 1 of the Agreement. MSC also agreed to notify its distributors in writing of their agreement to ensure the covered 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 $2,500, 75% of which was paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment. An additional payment of $16,000 was required, divided therein between a restitution payment to the West County Toxics Coalition and a cost payment used by the whistleblower AYS as compensation for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest.