As You Sow v. Star Finishing Products, Inc., et al.

On November 22, 1995, the Superior Court of California in and for the county of Marin entered a Consent Judgment in As You Sow v. Star Finishing Products, Inc., et al., which resolved private enforcer As You Sow's allegations that the defendant Star Finishing Products, Inc. ("Star") sold certain paints and solvent products containing toluene in the State of California without providing the requisite health hazard warnings.

As part of the settlement, Star agreed that as of December 6, 1995, it would send letters to distributors that Star knows or has reason to believe use, sell or distribute the products in California, in an effort to ensure that users of the products receive a Proposition 65 warning. The letters were to be in compliance with Section 1 of the Agreement.

The Settlement Agreement required settlement payments of $20,000, divided therein between civil penalties, 75% of which were paid to California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment and compensation to whistleblower As You Sow and their counsel for their successful enforcement of this matter in the public interest. An additional restitution payment of $34,500 was made to the AYS Proposition 65 Investigation Fund to support research and investigation regarding the exposure of California citizens to chemicals listed pursuant to Proposition 65.